The Mikaelsons: A different Ending
by Sandory
Summary: Chapter 13: Esther's boldness, Elena's stay over at the Mikaelson mansion, hurtful exchanges between Klaus and Finn, Kol's continual resentment towards Klaus. The darkness overlapped by Elijah's affection for Elena and attachment to family and a short sweet moment between Rebekah and Kol. And behind the scenes, The MF gang is cooking up a plan to get Elena back.
1. A poor Klaus and a Fresh Start

**A/N: Hey guys, this chapter is based on the scene where Esther makes her first appearance. The other chapters will be more interesting! I just wanted to include how this was actually a very bad episode for Klaus. A very Klaus-centric chapter!**

**I do not own The Vampire Diaries or this story line which is inspired from The Vampire Diaries. **

Klaus kept his eyes firmly on his shoes, not wanting to look at any of his brothers or sister in the eye. He knew all he would see was contempt or disgust and it would hurt him. This was what he had been most afraid of – being ostracized, unwanted and rejected by his own family. Everything he had done was for his family to be whole again – he had killed Mikael, getting rid of the rampant father who had wanted his own children dead, yet everything else had backfired on him.

"You lied to me," Klaus said in a blank voice, his eyes still fixed on his shoes. "Why, Elijah?"

No one could mistake the disappointment and almost confusion in his tone.

"Maybe because you betrayed me before, Niklaus," Elijah said coldly. "You did this this to yourself."

Elijah had not only been a brother to him but had been his most loyal and trustworthy buddy. He had never thought Elijah would be the one to undagger his siblings and betray him. But knowing Elijah, calculative and vengeful, he now realised that he had been a fool to trust him.

"I did it for us," he said almost earnestly and angrily, "So our family could be whole again."

"Well, we are going to be a family again," Finn lashed out, "Just without you!"

The words stung as though Finn had raised his worst nightmares and had taunted him with them. Niklaus raised his eyes to stare at Finn with pure, cold hatred. This was the second eldest brother, the one he loathed without hesitation.

"If you dare run," he said with gritted teeth. "I promise you I will hunt you down and make you regret it forever."

Finn stared back at him, with the same look that told Klaus that he was despicable. His long dark black hair he had sported 900 years ago made him look like a crazed caveman but Niklaus was not scared one bit.

Having known his younger brother, Elijah was not surprised at all by his threat. Kol, his younger brother, had an expression that was unfathomable. It seemed like a mix between hard and amused. Rebekah, no doubt, was the most angry and annoyed.

"You never learn, do you, Nik," she said in an acidic tone.

Klaus could not face her and went on staring icily at Finn. But Rebekah was not done.

"Go on, tell them what you did," she almost hissed the words. "Tell them how you lied, Nik. Go on, tell them!"

Klaus stopped himself from flinching at her screech. The atmosphere of the room, if it were possible, turned darker as the siblings closed in on him sitting on a chair. Elijah was now on the chair next to him, Kol was leaning against the kitchen counter right in front of him, a wine glass in his hand, and Finn stood somewhere in between the arc. Kol and Finn looked at Rebekah with puzzled looks on their faces. Elijah was the only who tried to meet his brother's eyes.

"More lies, Niklaus?" he said in a dangerously calm voice.

Klaus steeled himself to hold Elijah's steady gaze, his brother's eyes a pool of only darkness. But he did not answer.

"Tell him," Rebekah demanded. "If you don't tell him, I will. Which is it going to be?"

"Our mother, Elijah…"

That was all he could manage without feeling something within him break. He felt as though his heart shattered a little inside for he knew that they were never going to be a family again now. It was over for him; he had irrevocably gone beyond the possibility of forgiveness.

He blinked a tear, his face expression now strangely murderous. Rebekah walked right up to him and grabbed his collar roughly.

"Say it, you coward," she said nastily, though her voice was now a little shaky and her eyes were now watery with tears.

Klaus stared at her, his green-blue eyes cold and empty, but he did not fight back. She released his collar by pushing him roughly back and walked away to stand next to Kol now at the kitchen counter. She glared at him, her dark eyes challenging him.

"I did it…," Klaus said plainly, now shifting his eyes from one sibling to the other. "I killed Mother… I killed her, Elijah…"

Elijah looked shocked, but he was at a loss for words. Finn seemed devastated and angry; his face was now contorted by rage in an ugly manner. Kol tried to hide that he was horribly appalled but the look of astonishment was evidently there.

"HOW COULD YOU –"

Finn burst out screaming as he charged at Klaus. Klaus was still sitting on his chair, calm as ever, but Eljiah had zoomed in between them to block Finn. He was still the eldest and the one everyone listened to.

"Don't, Finn," Elijah said firmly, a note of finality in his words.

No one could challenge that tone Elijah used. It reminded them that he was in charge and the strongest and most sound among them. He was the most reasonable and yet most calculating, not attacking when not necessary, taking action only when it was most necessary.

Shocked and angry, Finn moved back, muttering something under his breath sulkily. Klaus looked humoured as he stared from Elijah to Finn.

"Why not, Elijah?" he said arrogantly. "Go on, Finn, I dare you. Come on, attack me."

Finn did not look the least bit daunted. He looked rather more broken and furious.

"How could you, Klaus," he snarled. "She was _our_ mother. She protected you, Klaus. _She loved you!"_

"SHE TURNED HER BACK ON ME!" Klaus burst into a fit of rage.

He saw Rebekah flinch at his words, the hurt filled in her eyes, but he could not care any less now.

"I will kill you," Finn growled. "I mean it. You killed both Mother and Father. You made us orphans, you monster! I will kill you even if it means getting myself killed."

Finn did not have to say that he had meant it; Klaus knew well enough that he did.

"_I'm_ the hybrid," he sneered. "No one can kill me! Go ahead, Finn. Attack me! I will kill all of you. ALL OF YOU!"

"You think no one can stop you?" Elijah said, challenging him. "We will, once we have that coffin of yours."

Klaus almost gasped as he stared at Elijah with burning cold hatred. Elijah was no more than an enemy now to him.

We'll never forgive you for what you did to Mother, Nik," Rebekah's voice broke.

Klaus did not look her in the eye at all. He just could not bring himself to care. He was afraid his heart might break even the slightest. Rebekah went on staring at him determinedly, her eyes welling up with tears of hatred. Next to her, across the counter, taking a sip and fingering the wine glass, Kol threw her a look of pride and satisfaction.

Suddenly the front door swung open and everyone's head, including Klaus', turned to see who had intruded upon their family business. A woman, in an olive green dress, with blond hair that was reminiscent of Rebekah's straight, golden hair, walked in towards Niklaus.

"Mother," Rebekah breathed.

Everyone seemed dazed as though they were in a fantasy, except for Klaus who, shocked, was reduced to nothing but that of a frightened little boy. He shook with fear, his mouth open to say something but nothing came out. As the woman came closer, and Rebakah and Kol made way for her to stand only inches away from Klaus, Klaus' eyes looked at the ground, as tears slowly fell from them.

"Look at me, Niklaus," the woman said in a high and cold voice.

He felt his insides disappear as he boldened himself to face her.

"Do you know why I'm here?" she asked slowly, her voice hard.

He nodded shakily and tearfully. "T – To kill me," he stuttered.

"Niklaus, I am here to forgive you," she said drawlingly.

She turned away from him to face her three other children, who looked astounded and speechless. Behind her, Klaus still looked shaken and defeated.

"I want this family to be whole again," she said, with a note of finality that was familiar to them and stronger than the ones Elijah's tone had.


	2. Brothers and Murders

**A/N: How exactly are Kol and Elijah different?:)**

The night sky was a dark blanket over Mystic Falls and the absence of lamp lights made highway trips a pitch black nightmare for most. Even the traffic police silently prayed not to get the night patrol shift because everyone knew that by now, the strangest of things happened in Mystic Falls.

Robert Phils was a dutiful traffic police that loved his job very much. When he heard that he was going be on duty for night patrol, however, he cursed himself for being unlucky but other than that, did not object to it. He had been on countless night patrols and nothing had happened to him but the other night, one of the fellow policemen had been found quite dead during a random night patrol. Nothing but a deep gash on his neck was found by the doctors to account for his death.

Family members and friends had teared at the funeral, acknowledging that it had been an unfortunate event where the policeman was clobbered to death by a very strong animal or beast. But Robert thought not. Robert knew it had not been an "animal". All the policemen silently knew that.

Robert's train of thoughts broke when he saw a gleaming black car driving at what looked like breakneck speed. Immediately, he started his car engine, following pursuit of the driver. _The nerve he had to drive like that at the dead of night!_

"Dale, black car, I don't know what brand," he was speaking very fast to another fellow traffic policeman who had parked himself a few miles away from Robert. "It's driving way too fast, just look out for it, okay. I'll be there soon!"

In the black car, Kol knew that the traffic police were after him and he drove even faster than the breakneck speed his car was travelling at. It was not that he was feeling a single bit of panic or fear of being caught. This was all just a game to Kol Mikaelson. If he was caught by the police, it was a temporary gameover for him, and he hated losing. If he was caught by his mother, it would be a permanent gameover for him, for going against her rules _and_ driving Elijah's car.

Unexpectedly, a police car loomed from out of nowhere and stopped right in front of his car. It seemed to have been waiting for his arrival all along. The game had, if anything just got interesting. He rolled down his car window as the policeman got out of his car and walked over to his black car.

"Hey, in case you haven't notice, it's three O'clock in the morning, kid," the policeman said irritably as he surveyed both the car and the driver. "And nobody drives like that in America, so if you'd just show me your driving licence now…"

Mystic Falls certainly had quite a reputation for awfully rude and bigot policemen.

Kol was smiling almost eerily. "My driving license? I hope it hasn't expired…"

All of a sudden, Kol, with his excellent hearing ability, could hear Elijah and Finn's voices as though they were not too far away. He was good at estimating and could guess they were only a mile or two from here. The policeman scrutinised the card that Kol had given him for a long while before realizing he had been fooled.

"What! This is no driving license! Don't play games with me –" he roared, but broke off when he saw that Kol was no longer in the car.

He spun around and saw the dark-haired boy now standing right before him when not a moment ago, he had been sitting right inside his car. Kol went on smiling at him. The policeman stared at him as though seeing him in a different light now. There was something strange about everything, about this boy, yet he could not quite put his finger on it.

"Oh, right, that's not my driving license…," his smiled broadened and for a second, the policeman imagined it to be a lunatic's smile, a dangerous smile.

The policeman held out the card but as Kol reached for the card, he closed his fingers around the policeman's fingers and tightened his grip, his smile widening to reveal the face of a psychopathic killer. He could feel one by one, the tiny bones in the policeman's finger crack and shatter. The policeman's face was now scarlet red with pain, as though all the blood had rushed to his face, as he groaned and tried to pull his hand away.

But Kol would not let his hand break free. Instead he continued looking at him in the eye gleefully, snapping his wrist and forearm. The pain was too unbearable that the policeman fell to the ground, gritting his teeth.

"What are you doing, Kol?"

Elijah's voice interrupted. Kol released the policeman's hand but not to face Elijah. Instead he, smiling down at the man, knelt down to be level with the man and pulled the man's arms back so that there was a sickening crunch from the man's shoulders and a loud crack from his back. And his eyes stopped moving.

Kol turned to face Elijah, grinning and looking utterly contented with himself. Elijah did not look too pleased.

"You didn't have to kill him," Elijah said sharply.

Kol did not argue with his brother but he also did not like listening to his brother chide him because Elijah had always been morally superior. It really was pointless to talk back because Elijah would only try to make him feel bad or guilty when both knew that Kol was not capable of feeling that at all.

"That's my car you're driving too," Elijah added, walking over to his car to inspect it, making sure that there were no scratches or damage done to his black car.

"Well, you weren't home and I was bored," Kol remarked cleverly.

Suddenly, as though he had just remembered something important, Elijah's head jerked to face him.

"Oh, I wanted to tell you, Finn was with me, and he heard what was going on," Elijah said in a grave tone.

Kol's face grew serious because he and Elijah knew what Finn was very good at doing.

"So he went back home to tell Mo –"

Kol vanished before Elijah had even completed his sentence. Elijah sighed, staring at his car. Oh, great. How nice of his younger brother to use his car and conveniently use his superspeed to get home, leaving his car in the middle of a dark highway. Elijah climbed into his car, stared at the dead body of the policeman his brother had murdered, and drove off, telling himself it was going to be a long night.


	3. Tattletales and Hope

**A/N: This was rather Elijah-centric, because it spoke of his inner feelings about everyone else. **

Kol entered the house just in time to see Finn whining away to Mother. _What a tattletale, _he thought. They had not noticed him for some reason and he could hear words like 'murderous Kol' and 'innocent people'. _Some vampire Finn is, _he thought again to himself as he walked over towards them.

Only when he was about five metres away from Finn did Finn notice him and leap out of shock.

"Mother, there he is!" Finn shouted vehemently, staring at Kol as though Kol was a crazy intruder.

Kol shot him a murderous look.

"Kol, you know my rules," Esther said angrily to her son.

But Kol went on staring at Finn icily that it was sending chills to Finn's spine now.

"KOL!" Esther snapped. "Did you hear me?"

Kol's head jerked to face her, though he had perfectly heard her and she had known it herself.

"There are many other ways of getting away with a traffic policeman, dear. You know my rules: don't hurt the locals or any innocent people," Esther sighed although somewhere deep inside, she knew that Kol was not going to feel sorry about this.

Kol did not argue with Mother. If there was anything worse than to argue with Elijah, it would be with his mother or father.

Esther had walked away to disappear to another part of the house, leaving Finn frowning, looking somewhat unsatisfied because Kol got hardly a scolding for what he had done. Maybe Finn had forgotten but Kol and Rebekah were hardly ever scolded by Mother and this he thought was most unfair.

Kol snickered at the ugly look on Finn's face and said, with a mocking smile on his face, "You're pathetic, Finn."

* * *

By the time Elijah was back, it was around five O'clock in the morning. He trudged into the house, looking somewhat tired after his long drive and found nobody home expect Mother, Finn, Kol and Rebekah. On the way home, he had met with a few ugly incidents, one of which included his car being stopped by a traffic policeman. He had also met Rebekah later on, attempting to murder Elena. Elijah was glad he had been there on time. He had no idea why but he had a soft spot for the girl, even though he was long over Katherine and Tatia.

"Elijah, you're back," Esther called. "I need a word with you."

Elijah almost groaned, knowing it was going to concern Kol and probably Rebekah when Mother learnt that Rebekah had almost killed Elena. The blame was always on him. It had always been like that for him, Finn and Niklaus.

Kol stopped him at the foot of the stairs, an excited look on his face.

"That was fast! I bet you were driving even faster than me!" Kol teased.

Kol knew to Elijah that would have been an insult but to someone like Nik, that would have been a compliment. It was the _perfect_ insult for someone like Elijah.

"Yes, I got stopped by a traffic police," Elijah said, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice. "And I compelled him. At least I didn't kill him."

Although he realised that was a wrong move and no right way to insult Kol because it would have made him even happier if anything, he step sided his imp of a brother to meet Mother.

"Elijah… I trusted you to stop Kol," Esther had her back facing him as she sat on the edge of her bed.

Elijah felt only irked.

"You're his big brother, you should help him," Esther said patiently in her high voice.

"Kol's no longer a child," Elijah said coldly.

"Well, emotionally he is, and so is Rebekah. But they're acting like monsters…" Esther's voice trailed.

"Rebekah?" Elijah said sharply.

"Finn told me," Esther sighed. "I knew you wouldn't. That's why Finn went around checking on all of you today, except Niklaus. Who knows where he is."

Finn, that bastard of a brother. He should have known better than to trust Finn. They had been walking around at night near the highway, talking about their feelings and the past, but Finn had decided to leave out the fact that he had been doing a good job of spying on Elijah too.

After the conservation, for want of a better term, with his Mother, Elijah slipped into his room to dwell onto his thoughts. He knew Rebekah was probably still angry and disgusted at him for caring about Elena. He was not in the best mood to talk to Kol right now unless Kol could wipe that smirk off his face and Klaus was not around.

Despite Finn being the closest sibling he had in terms of age, he trusted the other three younger ones much more. They had been close a long time ago, but that was before a werewolf had killed Henrick and they were forced into becoming vampires along with his other siblings. After that, Finn became detached and sober and kept to himself all the time. But one thing had certainly not changed. Finn had been and still was Mother's favourite son.

Elijah knew that despite all the nasty things his younger siblings did, he could not help feeling sorry that they had been turned at a young age. Rebekah at a delicate age of 16 years and Kol when he was no older than 18 years old. Niklaus, Finn and him were much better off. Niklaus was 20 years old when he had been turned, Finn was 22 years old and Elijah was 23 years old. All of them had lost their parents when they were far too young. Kol had gone out of control, Rebekah became a lost girl, and now with Mother back, there was a glimmer of hope to change all of what had become of his family.

Elijah rested his head against his hands as he lay down on his bed, closing his eyes. In a few hours he would have to prepare for the ball his mother was throwing. But he had no one in mind to invite, no one except the beautiful Petrova doppelgänger, Elena Gilbert. But he shoved that thought out of his mind, knowing it was impossible when those two Salvatore brothers followed her everywhere like puppies.

He let the rest of the morning go quiet. Finally, the house was in peace for a few hours before a very angry Klaus burst in.


	4. Feuds, fun and Flaky

**A/N: Strange things are happening, people are behaving strangely... and you'll find out soon enough maybe.;)**

It had been very peaceful all morning as they started preparing for the ball tonight, trying out the tailored suits and dress they would don. Even Kol and Finn had forgotten that they were mad at each other just a while ago. Elijah inspected his black polished shoe, holding it up to make sure there was not a single spot on the shoe that had not been specked with shiny shoe polish. Finn was combing his hair while staring dreamily at the mirror, still heavily amused by the invention of neckties. Kol was standing in front of a full-length mirror, admiring himself in his tuxedo. Rebekah was on the couch having her nails painted and Klaus was nowhere to be seen.

It was peaceful even though Kol and Rebekah would not stop bickering and trying to annoy each other. Rebekah thought it had been more than fifteen minutes since Kol had first stood in front of the mirror.

"You're being such a girl, Kol," Rebekah remarked in a sweet tone, smiling.

Finn chuckled slightly at his sister's comment.

Kol went on grinning unabashedly as he continued fixing his bow tie.

"It's a wonder I still know how to do this after a hundred years," he responded happily as he twisted the delicate piece of fabric more roughly than necessary.

She watched as his bow tie came out a little lopsided and he frowned, looking quite unsatisfied, and pulled it loose again to re-tie. It was going to be hilarious looking on as he tried again because she knew that he was going to fail for sure. After all, it had been a hundred years since he wore a bowtie and people don't just perfect the art of tying one in a day…

"You're not doing it right. The right side's always longer," Rebekah pointed out from her comfortable couch deliberately, to his annoyance.

"I know how to do this," he said dismissively as he fumbled again with the cloth.

Rebekah rolled her eyes and stopped herself from laughing when he failed again, looking frustrated by now. She got up from the couch to walk over to the mirror next to him. She slapped his hands away who tried to prevent her from touching his bowtie. Her hands more gentle on the cloth than on her brother's hands, she deftly handled the cloth, doing perfect loops, and out came a very fine bowtie.

"Face it, you needed my help," Rebekah jeered at him before walking away towards the couch again. "You're always hopeless, Kol."

He did not turn around to face her or flinch at her words like Nik would have. The words would have stung anyone, but it was Kol and Kol never wore his feelings on his sleeve. Kol appeared arrogant all the time but somehow Rebekah knew that he would get back at her for even the littlest or most mundane things.

"Not always," he managed.

His smug smile widened to the corner of his mouth as he extended his arms to both sides very dramatically. "I've always been _most handsome."_

Rebekah could not help a little smile.

"You're such a girl, Kol," Rebekah repeated herself. "Be a man for once."

Elijah was too absorbed into his shoes, while Finn, who had been listening to their conversation, burst out laughing. Just then the door burst open, and a furious Klaus stormed going straight for Rebekah.

"Are you mad? You went after Elena!" he growled.

"Sorry if I ruined your life."

Rebekah, who was expecting this, just smiled very sweetly at her brother, but Klaus was more than enraged. His face was livid with fury and strangely illuminated under the chandelier – it made him look quite mad.

Elijah snapped out of the dream world he was in with his shoes, Kol turned away from the mirror for the first time and Finn tried to look up without being noticed.

"See if you can ruin my life with a dagger in your heart!" Klaus hissed, fuming away.

"Again with the dagger threats? Don't you have any other tricks?" Kol jumped to Rebekah's defence.

Everyone was sick of his dagger threats by now.

"Oh, just go back to staring at yourself," Klaus lashed at him before turning to face Rebekah again.

"And who are you? My father?" Kol challenged him again.

Klaus whipped around, his patience for his younger brother gone. He had been tolerating Kol's unreasonable and annoying behaviour but the foolish boy had just gone too far.

"No, _Kol,_" he glared murderously, "but this is MY house."

"Then perhaps we should go outside," Kol answered him, standing up to face Klaus.

Klaus moved a few steps until his face was just inches away from Kol. Both were not smiling and the atmosphere grew tense. Kol had been a fool to challenge him, the hybrid. Any moment now, he would break Kol's neck…

"ENOUGH!" Esther bellowed from upstairs in her high and cold voice but they went on staring at each other coldly.

"Niklaus, come here please," Esther said more gently.

He glared at Kol one final time before walking away to meet Mother, who was sure to reprimand him for picking a fight and behaving aggressively with his youngest brother. As Niklaus walked away, Kol smiled mischievously, looking rather pleased that he had gotten his brother into trouble.

* * *

After chiding him, Esther and Klaus shared a mother-and-son moment.

"So who are you bringing to the ball tonight?" she asked, smiling.

Klaus immediately looked at his feet, laughing, before looking at her again. "No one. You're lucky I'm even going."

But in his head, he already knew who he wanted to ask. A pretty, blond-haired girl floated across his mind and he almost chuckled to himself.

* * *

Elijah thought of asking her all morning but he knew Rebekah would never approve of it. But then again, his sister could never stay mad at him for very long.

He walked around her school compound, pretending to take a stroll, as he waited for her after school. He knew she was a cheerleader and would turn up for cheer practice. True enough, he saw Elena, carrying thick books in her arms, acting very sneakily as though she was trying to escape school unnoticed.

"Elena!" Elijah called out.

She spun around, shocked to see him.

"Elijah?"

He felt his insides squirm a little at the sound of her voice when she said his name but as a thousand year old vampire, he was used to confessing to girls with a confident straight face.

"My family is having a ball tonight. Would you like to come?" he asked with his most straight face.

"Sure…," she said, smiling nervously. "As your date?"

Elijah nodded, smiling back.

She pulled the books in her arms closer to herself and said something very unlike herself.

"I could really kiss you," she whispered softly enough for only him to hear, before walking away.

Elijah watched her walk away, dazed, a happy look on his face.

* * *

Rebekah stopped Matt from leaving the classroom after History class.

"Well, my mum's throwing a party after school at night and you really should come," she smiled, admiring his blue eyes.

"Sure, Rebekah," he said, smiling, knowing that he was growing fond of Klaus' baby sister.

"But it's a bit of a formal party," Rebekah added flirtatiously, still smiling. "You know, suits and neckties."

"Got it," Matt chuckled.

Tyler and Caroline who were waiting for Matt outside burst into the classroom.

"What about me?" Tyler exclaimed.

Caroline threw him an ugly look to shut him up. "Matt, we need a word with you."

Rebekah looked at her plainly and turned back to Matt, "See you later, Matt."

She walked out of the classroom without even glancing at Tyler whose eyes were fixated on her.

"See you later, Rebekah."

Tyler, oblivious to a fuming Caroline, laughed and tried to give Matt a high five. "She asked you out, dude? Whoa!"

* * *

Caroline had received a beautiful invitation from Klaus that day too but she had not planned on going until she decided to use it to her advantage to spy on Matt…

Meanwhile, Elena Gilbert received an anonymous invitation to the Mikaelsons' Ball.

And Bonnie and her mum too were invited by old friend.


	5. Interesting

**A/N: Another chapter that doesn't reveal answers but begs questions. Stay tune to find out!;) **

The Mikaelson Mansion transformed into a brightly lit castle that night, their living room like a grand ballroom completed with a large crystal chandelier and tables with pink white cloths filled with all sorts of scrumptious dishes in Mystic Falls. Esther had also added a shiny silver disco ball to the room and a crystal water fountain that appeared to be the focal point of the room.

Elijah, Finn, Klaus, Kol and Rebekah were all dressed and prepared for the ball, ready to greet the first few arrivals and guests filing into the mansion. Esther took a good look at her children and smiled in approval before disappearing off to entertain the guests.

Elijah smiled at the guest ladies he did not recognise as he helped himself to the punch in the green crystal bowl with a ladle, scanning for Elena. Finn was of course carrying out his duty faithfully as Mother's favourite son, entertaining and greeting the guests as well as showing them the way around the mansion. Laughing away with men and toasting to them, Niklaus surprisingly found that he was enjoying himself. Kol was surrounded by a group of ladies near the crystal water fountain, flirting demurely with them. Rebekah was most stunning in her olive dress and her golden hair; heads would turn to gawk in stunned silence to appreciate the beauty that walked by.

Finally, Elijah spotted Elena and felt the sensation of a trapdoor suddenly forming inside him. Immediately, he grabbed a second glass and walked towards the brunette.

"Elena," Elijah smiled, speaking her name with a tinge of adoration.

"Elijah?" Elena gasped, looking startled to see him.

Elena stared at the tall man, his dark blond hair and his black eyes, and she remembered how he had formed alliance with her just to betray her in the end. Jenna had died in vain in the ritual because of him… And yet, she could not lie to herself and say that she was very unhappy to see him. When she looked into his eyes the first time, she had seen kindness that she had not seen in any other vampire's eyes, except Stefan's.

Elijah did not take note of her shock as he offered her the punch in his hand, which she took without much hesitation.

"Did – did you invite me here?" she said, her eyebrows still shot up to form a quizzical look on her face.

Elijah let out a chuckle, "You have a way of flirting, Ms. Gilbert."

Elena gazed at Elijah with curiosity. She was sure that he had not been this perky when they had first met; he had been sober and vengeful about his brother. But somehow, she liked it that he was more cheerful and bright, and decided to take his answer as a Yes. As they sat at one of the round tables clothed in silky dark green, Elena finally sipped her drink and allowed herself to smile jauntily.

"I can't believe it was you," Elena said delightfully and when Elijah had a puzzled look on her face, she continued, "I mean, it's not that I'm not glad. I am glad, I just didn't know it was you. I was afraid it was Klaus or something."

Elena let out a little laugh, realising she had spoken too much and felt it unlady-like of her, clasping her palm over her mouth. But Elijah remained silent, pondering for a moment to himself, which made Elena frown.

"Elena," he finally spoke in a colourless tone this time, "do you remember what happened today after school?"

"Yeah… I had cheer practice," Elena answered slowly, a little perplexed.

"And who did you see?"

"I was with Bonnie and Caroline," Elena answered in the same tone. "Why?"

"Anyone else?"

"No," Elena said with a touch of impatience. "Why, Elijah?"

"Nothing," he simply replied, getting up and walking away without looking at her, leaving Elena with a lost expression.

* * *

Finally the pretty blond girl with sparkling blue eyes arrived. Klaus, who was still in the company of drinking men, suddenly stood rigidly for a moment, but instantly deflected his fear and headed towards Caroline Forbes. Caroline was surveying the crowded atmosphere, trying to spot Klaus, a mutt-haired man with sea-green eyes, and when she finally spotted him, she made sure he had noticed her first before sashaying her way in.

Klaus sighed happily at how beautiful she looked in her yellow dress as he approached her, turning on a charming dimple smile for her.

"Good evening," he smiled at her affectionately.

But Caroline could not look him in the eye because she was afraid of finding something that she would like about them and decided to brush him away.

"I need a drink," she said brusquely before walking away.

His smile broadened, revealing deeper dimples, which almost made him look like a cute little boy. He saw that she was afraid of knowing him and not only just that, she was afraid of falling for him at all. _In time to come, she will give in, _he smirked to himself.

Klaus' happy daydreams were broken by Elijah who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, giving his brother a furtive look.

"Niklaus," he breathed.

"What, Elijah?" Klaus asked, but he was still slightly grinning from the idea of Caroline.

"We have an interesting guest tonight," Elijah grimaced.

But Klaus, still in day dream mode, understood none of that.

"And by interesting, you mean fun to kill?" Klaus said in a bubbly tone, clasping his hands together into a clap. "Now, who could be _that_ interesting? Mikael? Oh, that's right, I killed him already…"

Now Klaus' face grew serious. He had a habit of being sarcastic before turning grave and deadly.

"If I can kill Mikael, I can kill anyone, rest assured, brother."

"I don't know if you want to kill her so soon, brother," Elijah said quietly, still being secretive.

Klaus glared at him for a moment, not quite comprehending what he had just said, but then a sudden realisation dawned upon him, and he smiled most maliciously.

"Now, who could be more _interesting_ than that lady?"


	6. New Lady in Town

**A/N: Who's the interesting guest? Read on because she appears in this chapter! Can Klaus and Elijah trust each other?;)**

At last, it seemed as though all guests were present, which also meant the start of waltzing. For someone who had been dead for a thousand years, body preserved by the deadest of witches, Esther had never waltz in her life. But what she knew of it since it was introduced in the eighteenth century, she liked. She liked it so much that she had Elijah to formally begin the start of the waltz. When she spoke to him, he had been more than honoured to do so, but now what seemed like a 'waltzing ceremony' was no more than a waste of time to him and Klaus who could sense a feeling of dread in the air in their large mansion like the smell of impending death.

"She would be foolish to come back," Klaus muttered, shaking his head.

Elijah nodded in agreement. "Then she can't be up to any good."

"Go find Finn," Klaus used his alpha male tone to command people. "I'll get Rebekah and Kol. Nothing must ruin our family reunion. _Nothing, Elijah."_

The way Klaus delivered those words sent a slight chill down Elijah's spine, but otherwise he wore a straight face because he knew Niklaus, and he knew how important family was to his younger brother. Klaus stalked off before Elijah had the chance to reply, leaving Elijah to search for Finn now. As Elijah moved his way through the crowd trying to spot Finn, he bumped into Elena Gilbert again. She was with Bonnie Bennett, laughing in a happy, fun conversation, but when she saw Elijah, the cheeriness on her face evaporated.

"Elijah, it wasn't you, was it?" Elena said, her eyes looking at him skeptically.

His face emotionless, he moved closer to her to whisper into her ear.

"Listen, Elena," he said in a dangerous voice. "You shouldn't be here. Something dangerous is going on."

And with that, he left her again, leaving a blank look on her face. Bonnie wheeled Elena to face her, question marks all over her face.

"What was that all about? Why did he say it's too dangerous to be here? Who's that anyway? He looks familiar…" she buried Elena in an avalanche of questions.

Elena turned a crimson shade of red. "He's Elijah…"

"Klaus' brother? I thought you told me Klaus invited you here," Bonnie said, raising her eyebrows in a questioning slant.

"I thought he did," Elena explained, feeling her face grow hot. "But I got an anonymous invitation…"

"Anonymous?" Bonnie sounded worried now. "Elena, maybe I should take you home."

But Elena was not one to ignore the danger she was in.

"No," she said fiercely. "Whoever invited me here probably has a reason to do so, and I'm gonna find out."

Bonnie opened her mouth to object but Elena cut her off.

"Besides you can't take me home," Elena gave Bonnie a dark look. "You need to stay with your mum since you guys were invited by her friend."

Bonnie sighed in defeat. "I'm calling Stefan and Damon, that's final."

Elena did not want Stefan and Damon to come because she did not want to put them in any danger. But she saw no other way of convincing Bonnie to let her stay so she agreed finally.

* * *

Klaus found Matt Donovan arguing with Caroline near the pink white tables filled with cocktail juices and light brown cinnamon rolls. Both had furious looks on their faces.

"What are you doing here? Did Klaus invite you here?" Matt asked her suspiciously, staring at her as though she was mad.

"It's none of your business," Caroline snapped, not wanting to reveal that she had come just to spy on him. "What about _you?_ What do you see in _her?"_

"Look, I couldn't say no, alright," Matt gave an excuse rather convincingly, a lump forming in his throat. "But you with Klaus… That guy is a bad guy, Care!"

Caroline was about to speak when Klaus appeared in between them.

"Mind if I intrude?" he almost smirked at the immediate fear that filled Matt's eyes.

Caroline thought he was about to whisk her away from Matt, but unexpectedly he turned towards Matt, ignoring her instead.

"Where's my sister?" he asked calmly, his eyes a dangerous shade of green-blue.

"Ov – over there," Matt stuttered, pointing that way, his facial muscles twitching nervously.

Klaus looked in the direction Matt had pointed at and sure enough, Rebekah was there, speaking to a woman with dark red hair, whom Klaus immediately recognized as Sage, Finn's old time lover. Klaus immediately strode towards her, wasting no time.

"Sage, what a nice surprise," he exclaimed mockingly. "Did you self-invite yourself here for some reason? Rebekah, love, could I borrow you just this once?"

Rebekah threw sage a contemptuous glance before following her brother, leaving Sage, an angry, hurt look across her face.

"You're borrowing me?" Rebekah asked casually. "I was having a little reunion of my own."

"What kind of disgusting reunion is that?" Klaus clenched his teeth, referring to Sage. "You know what would be a real reunion? My doppelgänger coming with _her_ doppelgänger."

Rebekah looked appalled. "WHAT? That Elena devil is here?"

When Klaus did not reply, Rebekah's eyes darkened.

"Pathetic Elijah," she said bitterly. "What does he see in stupid, weak Elena?"

"Elena may be stupid and weak," Klaus said in a grave tone. "But the other doppelgänger is not so. I don't know what she's up to, but you best be on you guard, sister."

Rebekah only nodded this time, her face inscrutable now.

"Get Finn and Kol," Klaus told her seriously. "Elijah and I are on it, so none of you are going to screw this up."

* * *

Rebekah found Kol flirting gallantly with a few cheerleaders from Mystic Falls High nearby the crystal water fountain. He had his arm over one of them, whom Rebekah knew as Sarah. Rebekah was a cheerleader herself and knew all of them but as much as she was curious to know why and how they were invited, she had more urgent matters regarding Kol to deal with.

"Kol, we need to talk," she said standing in front of them, talking like a spoilt brat.

Kol took his arm off the girl, a little surprised to see his sister, but he gave her a cocky smile.

"Rebekah?" Sarah looked taken aback to see Rebekah looking so beautiful, before turning to Kol with a puzzled look. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend –,"

Kol was about to answer but Rebekah yanked him away impatiently, pulling him far away from them so that they would stop staring. When they could no longer see the cheerleaders, Rebekah let go of him.

"What's going on?" Kol asked, confused. "You're ruining my fun, Bekah."

"What fun was that?" Rebekah spluttered. "You don't know what fun is at all."

Kol's eyes narrowed.

"What do you want, Rebekah?" he said sharply.

"I don't want anything to do with you," she replied simply. "But Nik does because his stupid doppelgänger is here. And it's not just her, there's another doppelgänger, and Nik doesn't trust her. He says she can hurt us so we have to be careful. We have to get Finn too…"

"So you do care about me, sister," Kol flashed at her a cheeky grin. "Tell me it's you and not Nik!"

"I'm only here because Nik is too busy chasing after his stupid doppelgänger," she said in a deadpan voice.

She waited for him to wince or shift a little uncomfortably at the words she had said to deliberately hurt him but he was good. He was not soft like Nik, not easy to wound.

"Yeah, that doppelgänger sure is a bite," Kol smiled cunningly as he helped himself to the green crystal bowl of punch.

"You're never going to get her," Rebekah replied, feeling a little disappointed as her anger faded away. "Not unless you get in Nik's way."

Deep down, Rebekah loathed Elena because she had taken everything away from her. She had taken Nik away, and now Elijah. It pained her to think of how Nik used to care but that was once upon a time. She could not bear to lose Elijah to the same girl too.

"Since when has it been Nik's way?" Kol chuckled, after sipping his punch.

Rebekah rolled her eyes although she was no longer cross, a small smile forming on her face. Nik used to be the soft, caring brother she needed and could rely on while Kol was the sharp one, the one she could not stop argueing with and the brother she could not admit that she cared about. Her world was bright when Nik once cared. But even though he was equally dark or even darker, Kol could bring light into her darkness, the light that she craved.

As for Elijah, she had never questioned his ability to be a good brother. True enough, all four brothers loved her unconditionally, but Elijah would never break her heart on purpose, not like Nik.

* * *

The time had arrived. Elijah stood halfway up the spiral staircase with his mother, looking down upon the guests who were quiet now. He saw Elena, with Bonnie, Caroline and Matt, staring up at him and wondered why she had not left.

"Thank you for coming," Elijah spoke politely. "For joining the celebration of the reunion of my family. It's tradition for us to waltz so please join us and enjoy."

The slow music began just as Elijah ended his short speech. People were now holding hands with their partners or frantically searching for a partner. Elijah was looking out for Elena and saw her, staring up at something from the second floor. When his eyes followed her gaze, he saw, with a shock, that it was Esther, who was staring more intently at her. A million questions bombarded his mind now but before he could make a move, someone's hands gently covered his two eyes.

"Elijah," Elena's voice was playful.

Elijah turned around and stared at her, stony faced.

"Dance with me," she said, almost ordering him.

He put his arm around her slowly and they began joining the waltzing in the room. As they were slowly dancing, Elijah whispered into her ears.

"I know it's you, Katerina," he said in a threatening tone.

The Elena lookalike's eyes widened in shock and let out a small gasp.


	7. A Runner's Warning

**A/N: Hi, thank you for the suggestions and reviews.:) It has been a pleasure to read all the reviews. Good luck with trying to guess who my favourite is...;) Hint, it's not Elijah. In this chapter, something dangerous happens but is quickly overcome. But does it spell the end of danger or could it just be the beginning of something darker?;)**

Katherine Pierce froze in his arms, her face turning chalky white with fear as they continued to waltz near the centre of the room, surrounded by partners who were dancing too to the slow beats of the melodious music.

"Katerina, you are very brave," said Elijah, his tone dripping with contempt. "But also _very, very _foolish."

They could not see each other's face but Katherine imagined the lethal shadows in the depth of his eyes. She could feel her heart pounding at the rapidity of a waterfall but her mind told her she had nothing to be afraid of for Elijah knew his mother's explicit rules.

"I heard you were back in town," Katherine merely said.

"The further you should stay away," said Elijah icily.

He felt a strange sensation as though millions of comets were swirling within him. He knew what he felt was rage. It had to be.

"You're still mad at me."

"Oh, I'm not mad at you anymore, Katerina," Elijah spoke in a clipped tone. "But Klaus is."

At the mention of the hybrid's name, Katherine backed away from him with enough force to knock someone off balance, if that someone had not been Elijah. He saw the fear that marred the brunette's face like spray paint over a confident mask and felt some form of pleasure at the sight.

"You were mad at me for running away. What did you expect me to do?" pointed out Katherine, her eyes demanding. "Trust you and walk into my death?"

There was a flash of anger in Elijah's eyes and Katherine knew that she had kept him distracted enough for her to make a move. He was silent for a while, as though searching for the right words. Opposite him, she was facing the rooms along the second floor, brightly lit with flaming golden lights. Other than an obviously drunk Finn with his girlfriend, no one else was on the second floor. Anyone could climb there without much notice.

"That was five hundred years ago, Katerina," said Elijah in a calm manner, although deep inside, a blast of fury was searing through him. "Why do we rake up the past? I no longer trust you and you never did."

He studied her face carefully but saw none that he had expected. There was no guilt. But there was also no amusement. Had he scrutinised more deeply, he thought he would have seen the hurt and pain in her eyes.

"Why are you back, Katerina?" spoke Elijah slowly, when Katherine still said nothing.

"I'm tired of running. I don't want to run anymore."

"You should have thought about that before you double-crossed us," said Elijah coldly. There was no sympathy in his ebony black eyes. "You should have known better."

"I knew well enough what I was doing," said Katherine fiercely, her eyes darkening with anger. "I was saving myself from monsters. I wasn't double-crossing, I was looking out for myself."

It was becoming more difficult for Elijah to keep his cool and refrain himself from tearing out her throat from her neck, but he knew better than to ruin his mother's night; he did not want to be the monster people would think he was too. Looking mesmerized and held by cold anger, Katherine could see that it was going to be easy to keep him at bay and make this night a _blast,_ and she certainly meant it literally.

"You have hell to pay for, Katerina," he grinded out the words between clenched teeth. "You should watch your back."

"You don't get it, do you?" fumed Katherine. "I said I'm tired of running. I'm not going to run for my life anymore. I will fight for it - starting now. So maybe _you should watch your back."_

Just as she whispered those words, she took off in a split second. Elijah would have gone after her and was fast enough to reach her despite her split second of a head start but before he could move even a finger, there was a loud explosion, as though a bomb had been set off on the second floor, followed by an ear-piercing scream, carrying Finn's familiar voice.

Elijah zoomed like a bat to the second floor and saw, with utmost horror, that one of the rooms was covered in flames. Finn and Sage were inside, their bodies taut as they backed away from the flames that were rolling in all directions. Elijah's first instinct had been to run to the bathroom to fetch the large red pail of water, which would have doused any normal fire. But the tenacious flames did not falter one bit.

"ELIJAH! THE FLAMES AREN'T DYING OUT!" Finn screamed hysterically.

Klaus reached the doorway, carrying a large bright red hose pipe which he had connected to the crystal water fountain. He shouted at Kol and Rebekah below to start the hose pipe and aimed at the flames that were spreading and licking and peeling the walls of the room.

"What happened?" he hissed, glaring at Elijah.

"Katerina –,"

"THE FIRE! IT'S NOT DYING OUT!" Finn's scream cut Elijah's words.

Klaus frowned at the flames, stroking his chin, when he suddenly realised what was going on. He looked around, scanning for his mother.

"Where's mother?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen her," Elijah said, and thought of how strange that was.

"It's a witch, Elijah," Klaus hissed. "A witch started this, a witch can end this. I'm getting that Bonnie witch!"

"HURRY! I CAN'T… THE HEAT…," Finn panted in agony now, hugging Sage to protect her from the flames, both faces streaked with tears.

As Klaus dashed down the stairs, all heads turn to stare at him, still shocked by the explosion. Esther was trying to get everyone to calm down. Immediately, Klaus felt a strong surge of anger at his mother for not trying to save Finn.

"Mother, what are you doing?" he demanded with an ominous edge in his tone.

"Finn disobeyed me," she said stubbornly without looking at Klaus. "I told him not to bring that hideous girl here with him!"

The answer was like a slap to his face, except that it did not hurt but had a similar shocking quality to it. On her face, he saw nothing but brutal detachment and nonchalance and that in a strange way unnerved him. As much as he wanted to shove his mother roughly by the shoulders to a corner and demand for a more valid reason, he knew he had no time to waste so he turned away and carried on striding quickly. It was quite easy to spot Bonnie, a girl with dark long hair tied in a bun in a pretty white dress.

"Bonnie," Klaus called. "I need you right now, witch."

Before he had spoken to her, Bonnie had been staring at the room on the second floor, wide-eyed and shocked. She was alarmed enough to agree immediately to Klaus' request so that it surprised Elena, who was standing next to her. Klaus had stared at Elena as though unsure of whom he was really seeing, but Elena dismissed the weird look on his face, not really wanting to know what had been going through his mind.

On the second floor, Bonnie stood at the doorway with Elijah and Klaus, as Elena peered at them from afar. The flame size was increasing rapidly but Bonnie was determined to take charge of the situation.

"I can make the fire go away," Bonnie said firmly. "But on one condition."

Klaus did not look too happy with the witch.

"Don't play games with me, witch, or I'll rip your throat out," he snarled at her.

"The condition, Bonnie?" Elijah asked politely, ignoring Klaus.

"Stay away from my friends and family," Bonnie simply stated.

Elijah's face changed to have a somewhat incomprehensible look. He was a man of his words and would not want to make false promises even to his foes, but he did not think he could ever stay away from Elena unless he chose to leave Mystic Falls.

"Bonnie, do the spell," Klaus hissed threateningly. "Or everyone in this room dies."

"Niklaus –," Elijah started.

"DO THE SPELL, BONNIE, OR I KILL EVERYONE!" Klaus roared, causing Bonnie to cringe and regret her words.

Having no choice, Bonnie began to concentrate her mind on the flames and withdraw power from her surroundings to weaken the flame. The flames began to decrease as Bonnie continued to chant silently, and then finally they were completely extinguished. Klaus and Elijah let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Bonnie," Klaus said politely, sincerity swirling in his eyes.

But Bonnie left in a huff, a look of revulsion on her face. Elena was staring at her friend, concern written all over her face, having seen everything that had gone down at the doorway from her spot.

"Everything is fine," Elijah spoke calmly from above to the guests. "To take a break from the waltzing and drama, maybe we should move on to dinner now."

The chefs and waiters began to file out into the grand living room and set up the dishes on all the dark silky green clothed tables. All the guests hurriedly went to grab seats and started feasting away. As Klaus and Elijah approached the dining area, Klaus furiously began to tell him about Mother.

Elijah merely shook his head, but he seemed rather astounded himself. He knew that his mother had a weakness: always allowing her hatred to get the better of her. She hated Sage, and hated Finn being in love with Sage, thus refusing to save even her favourite son. He knew that he would not tell Finn about it not only because he hardly told Finn anything now, but also secretly because it would result in a crestfallen Finn.

"So what happened?" Klaus demanded.

"She was there, right in front of my eyes," Elijah said colourlessly. "But she ran away, she warned us to watch our backs, brother."

"You could have killed her," Klaus looked at his brother suspiciously.

"If I could, I would have," Elijah simply said. "She ran and the explosion happened. I was off guard."

"You really think I'm going to buy that story?" Klaus fumed his face livid with fury now, shadows of distrust swimming in his sea-green eyes.

"Why would I not kill her?"

"You know, I've always trusted you, brother," spewed Klaus furiously.. "But Lady Katerina_ always_ tests that bond."

A brutal look crossed Elijah's face as he stared at his brother, loss for words that could possibly convince his brother of his loyalty, and angered also by his brother's distinct faithlessness in him. Klaus' eyes held his gaze, blue green boring into black, entertaining the thought of poisoning his brother with a Truth Potion. But he heard the soft sound of the front door opening and his sharp bat-like ears took in the familiar sounds of the Salvatore brothers. Instantly, he flew off his seat and speeded towards the main front door, greeted by what he had expected to see.

"Look who's here," he sneered at them. "Stefan and Damon Salvatore. That's funny, I don't recall you lot on the guest list."

"Listen, we just want to bring Elena home," Stefan said in a tired voice.

"No one is bringing Elena home," a cold, high voice (with the likes of Lord Voldermort) said from behind.

Klaus turned around, astonished to see Esther staring coldly behind him at the Salvatores, a deadly look on her face.


	8. Things turn Ugly sometimes

**A/N: Thank you for the reviwes, they have made me really happy. Please enjoy this one too! Klaus learning more about mummy, Kol being a bad-boy and thorn in the flesh to brothers, and a moment between Klaus and Caroline. ;) I'm sorry about things getting ugly.. bear with it for now! It will get better... I hope.;)**

**To the anons who reviewed too, thank you. To Juti, I guess you'll have to read on to find out if Elijah gets Elena..;) **

Damon Salvatore's light blue eyes hardened at the sight of Esther while Stefan appeared peeved and exasperated. Damon had short, straight black hair with cold sapphire eyes, while Stefan had dark bronze hair with gold highlights and chocolate brown eyes that made him look like a puppy. Esther stared coldly at them as though they were unwanted guests. Klaus looked from his mother to the Salvatore brothers and back to his mother again, a dubious look on his face.

"I want to know what's going on, Mother," Klaus demanded in a calm voice, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Esther walked towards them, her fiery black eyes never wavering from Damon and Stefan's faces. Damon turned to Klaus, a bemused look on his face.

"This is your mummy, Klaus?" Damon said in disbelief. "I thought she died a thousand years ago!"

Klaus' lips curled with hatred as he shot a dagger stare at Damon, who still wore a slightly amused expression. Esther ignored the exchange, an uninterested look on her face.

"You heard me," she said in a low voice to Stefan and Damon. "No one is bringing Elena home."

"Then I'm no one!" Damon shot back, springing up as quickly as a ghost into the ballroom.

But a sharp pain rocked his head all of a sudden like a strong wave, causing him to cry out in agony and kneel on the floor, covering his head with both hands. Stefan's face turned blotchy gray when he saw Esther composed and calm, her eyes focused on Damon. _She's a witch. _Klaus moved with lightning speed to reach Damon, gripping his neck tightly when Damon had stopped groaning.

"Get out of here," Klaus said through clenched teeth, his beautiful blue green eyes boring into Damon's pale blue eyes.

Damon bit his lip as a sign of defeat, frustrated and defiant, not wanting to look Klaus in the eye so he would not be compelled, but Stefan moved over quickly, a desperate plea swirling in his hazel brown eyes.

"Alright, alright! We'll leave, let my brother go, Klaus!" Stefan shouted in a hard voice which he rarely used.

Damon glared at Stefan but said nothing. When Klaus' hand had released his grip around Damon's neck, Damon charged in a straight line towards Esther, his vampire face revealed, his eyes turning an ugly beady black and the dark lines beneath his face showing. But his millisecond of a head start did not prevent Klaus from flying and landing in front of him, blocking his way, a frightening expression on his pale face.

"Don't you dare have a go at my mother," he breathed those words in a low snarl, his eyes a blazing sea green of hatred.

Damon frowned but in the blink of an eye, he could not react fast enough to Klaus' hand movement, which slapped his face, sending him reeling across the hallway. Gasping, Stefan ran to his brother's aid and grimaced at both Klaus and his mother, while Esther remained tranquil as ever.

"I don't want to see you again, anywhere near my family or Elena," Esther spoke in a laidback manner to the younger Salvatore. "Both you and your brother."

Stefan nodded his head rather too frantically while Damon who was on his feet now scowled unhappily, infuriated and embarrassed. But both left in a hurry before Esther could change her mind about sparing them. Once they were out of earshot, Klaus turned to his mother, regarding her with apprehension.

"You invited Elena?" he said in a mixed tone of wariness and disbelief.

Esther's face remained incomprehensible, not leaking any form of information or betraying any agenda that she could possibly have.

"I was curious to see the doppelgänger in town," Esther merely replied, giving him a nonchalant shrug.

Klaus continued to look at her with a refusal to believe her words. When it came to Elena, he was always afraid and dared not trust anyone because she was too important to him – She had the doppelgänger's blood which he needed to make his lethal hybrid army. But before Klaus could continue to interrogate his mother, Esther had decided to walk away, her dark blue dress sweeping the floor.

Klaus returned to his dinner table but was disappointed to see that Elijah was not there anymore; he must have left to find Katerina after their heated row. But his disappointment magically changed to delight when Caroline Forbes slipped into the chair next to him although the look on her face was not a pleasant one.

"Okay, what did you do to Stefan and Damon?" Caroline said angrily.

"I didn't do anything, love," Klaus answered innocently, raising both hands up in surrender, leering at her at the same time. "Fine, it was my bad, they were invited into the house before. But let's not discuss them…"

Klaus leaned over to scoop the chicken drumstick into her plate and as he did so, he took a glimpse at Caroline, who was gazing at him the entire time, and winked at her. She scoffed, unimpressed, causing his face to flush with hurt and anger. Instantly, she felt a little apologetic when she noticed the injured look in his blue green eyes, but she chided herself privately for feeling any form of empathy for this man.

"I didn't come here to dine with you, Klaus," Caroline said curtly.

"Oh, but you're here already," Klaus replied cleverly, the hurt gone, replaced with a false look of victory.

Caroline looked around for a moment from her seat, scanning for Matt, whom she had intended on spying but had become too distracted with Klaus' presence. When she saw Matt with the blonde devil which was Klaus' sister, anger bubbled inside her stomach. Noticing the shift in her expression, Klaus determinedly decided to avert her attention back to him.

"So tell me, why did you come?" Klaus gave her his charming dimple smile.

But she would not look him in the eye again; instead she decided to keep her eyes fixated on the meat on her plate. It was becoming very obvious to Klaus that she was feeling very nervous and out of sorts around him…

"I don't know," she replied rudely. "Why did you invite me here?"

"Because I fancy you," Klaus' voice was saturated with love as he continued smiling and watching her.

She looked up at him, a little taken aback. Her eyes were vulnerable, giving away her thoughts; he could see that she doubted every word.

"Is it so hard to believe?" Klaus said, his eyebrows shot up in a quizzical manner.

"Yes," she blurted out the truth and moved onto staring at her food again

Klaus merely smiled, admiring her secretly. There was something delicate about her; in spite of the hard armour she had constructed against him, he could still see the frightened soul through the tiny cracks and holes in her armour. And yet he found the blonde to be strong and full of life, a trait he had deeply loved about his princess Tatia.

* * *

Deep inside, Kol Mikaelson knew what he was about to do was spelling trouble for him with his mother and brothers but he could not help himself. He had to know her, find out what was so special about her and then infuriate his two elder brothers just for the fun of it. He spotted her after dinner, standing by the pink white tables with another girl, a glass of wine in her hand. Smiling wickedly to himself, Kol strode towards the brunette Elena Gilbert.

Elena was in a light-hearted conversation with Bonnie, trying to ease Bonnie's worry about Stefan and Damon who had not arrived yet since she had called them an hour ago. Just as they were chit chatting, Bonnie tensed up a little and her mouth was hanging open, but before Elena could turn to see what had induced such a reaction, a voice had whispered her name "Elena".

"Elena Gilbert," said Kol, smiling valiantly as he drew out his hand. "We haven't formally met yet. Kol Mikaelson."

When Elena moved her hand forward for what was supposed to be a handshake, she had to restrain herself from gasping when he gently pulled her hand towards him, bending his head to brush his lips lightly against it, watching her as he did so. The word 'Mikaelson' finally registered in Elena's mind and she knew why his strong English accent was so familiar to her.

Looking at Kol, she knew why Bonnie had such a reaction. He was obviously younger than Klaus, was as white as a sheet of paper and had jet-black hair and dark eyes. His features only made him look handsome but Elena saw the ring on his finger and was immediately on guard with the original vampire. Bonnie was talking to another person and did not seem to have heard the exchange.

"You're Klaus' brother…," Elena's voice trailed off, staring at him a little warily.

"He probably never mentioned that he had one," Kol shrugged, still beaming at her. "Nik has never been one to brag. But he mentions you _all the time_."

Elena felt a little uncomfortable as only Klaus would speak in such a manner to her. The way he spoke and smile strongly reminded her of the evil glib-tongued Niklaus, except that he smiled far much more, which on the contrary made her feel more uneasy with his overfriendliness.

Kol could tell from her eyes and her rather spastic facial muscles that she was nervous but he pretended not to take note. He could see nothing particularly interesting about her, except for the fact that she was a dead ringer of Tatia.

"Did he invite me here?" Elena drawled.

Kol's smile widened at her query into a leer.

"No, that was me, love," said Kol, his face animated. "There, there, forgive me… but I had to know you."

Elena stared at him, not sure whether to believe or not. For some reason, her heart was pumping very quickly – she could feel the danger and uncertainty in his dark eyes. Then, a harsh voice from behind startled her.

"She's off-limit, Kol," Elijah said in a commanding tone which none of his siblings challenged.

Elena spun around and was glad to see Elijah, the alarmed look on his face. Kol seemed rather satisfied with an unhappy Elijah as he did not fight back; he was not one to hold his tongue when he was not pleased, but he wished he had a longer conversation with the doppelgänger who as far as he was concerned, was the most boring girl Niklaus and Elijah had ever fancied. Elijah turned away from his brother to face Elena, but there was no smile on his face.

"I thought I told you to go home."

"I know, Elijah, and I'm sorry," Elena said apologetically. "But I had to know who invited me…"

Elena almost shuddered when she said that, glancing at Kol, who was eyeing her with an eerie smile on his face. Fully aware of what was going on, Elijah paused to turn and give Kol a mild glare. He turned back to Elena, his expression softer suddenly.

"I know who invited you, Elena," Elijah whispered. "I could more or less guess and it's definitely _not_ my brother if that's what he told you. Now I'm asking you, as a favour, Elena, to leave."

There was a definite note of finality that Elena reckoned she should not challenge. Elena simply nodded, giving Elijah a small, understanding smile and mouthed him a 'thank you' before leaving. Elena tapped Bonnie, who was still in the middle of another conversation, on the shoulder.

"Bonnie, I think I'm going," Elena told her friend in a rather snappy way although she herself could not understand why so.

Bonnie's eyes widened with concern. "You sure? What about Damon and Stefan?"

"Damon and Stefan are not coming," Elijah simply answered. "They were not on the guest list. It's as simple as that."

Bonnie surveyed him with distrust before relenting and allowing Elena to head home herself. Just as Elena had left them, she immediately made sure that Elijah could not see her anymore. She had no plan on leaving, not until she discovered who had invited her and why. At the back of Elena's mind, through elimination, she knew it had to be either Rebekah or Esther. Funnily enough, they had nothing to do with her, except of course, Rebekah's deep, pure hatred of her.

Suddenly, a hand shot out from behind to roughly cover Elena's mouth, preventing her from screaming for help. She felt herself being pushed and dragged to an isolated part of the mansion.

"Surprise, Elena," Katherine purred into her ear.

Elena screamed angrily but the hand over her mouth drowned the scream and made it inaudible. From the corner of her eyes, she could see a boy standing next to Katherine, who could not have been a day older than ten years old. He gazed at Elena, his eyes an unfathomable jade green.

Katherine shoved a long roll of masking tape over her mouth and pushed her violently into a box that was big enough to fit only her. Katherine smiled devilishly at Elena, enjoying every second of torturing her. Then, she closed the box, and Elena was enveloped by darkness. Tears of anger and fear began to roll down her cheeks as she inaudibly begged Katherine to let her out, budging from side to side, rocking the sides of the box.

"Okay, Johnny, the spell," Katherine said sweetly to the boy.

Johnny focused his eyes on the vibrating box. There was a solemn look in his eyes. Then, the box stopped budging. Katherine gave the boy another sweet smile and ruffled his hair.

"Good job, Johnny."


	9. The opening of Blackness

**A/N: It was very difficult to write the last part of this chapter, but here it is. I thoroughly enjoyed writing the Klaroline scene below. Plot is unfolding slowly, and thickening even... So many things happening at once, when are we going to get to piece everything together? And who exactly is Johnny? You probably will not find it in this chapter.;) Not yet. But bear with me, the truth will stare at you in the face!**

**And I know this week television programmes seem to have been postponed to next week because of Thanksgiving Holiday (I think). Well, we get to watch the re-airing of Growing Pains, but I'm sure everyone is only too excited for My Brother's Keeper. I hope this chapter could brighten you up..;) Ha..**

**Just disclaiming again that I do not own The Vampire Diaries or anything here.;)**

After dinner, Niklaus Mikaelson led Caroline out of the house so that they would be able to talk in the quiet. He led her to the front yard where there was a green pebble path garden, decorated by garden gnomes, cherry blossoms, lilies, roses and many other types of flowers. Other than the fact that he did like to have some time alone with the girl, he could not help feeling that she was up to something else. From the way she kept glancing away during dinner, it made Niklaus curious to see what kind of agenda she might have.

As they stepped outside, walking along the pebble pathway, Caroline felt something cold drop on her head, the cold spreading from her head to the rest of her. Looking up, she saw minute drops of what looked like white furry balls falling everywhere. With a touch of wonderment, she realised it had begun to snow.

Klaus had stopped behind her, holding his hand out for a snowflake to land on his palm. Slowly, a tiny beautiful snowflake settled onto the centre of his palm to dissolve into a small puddle of water. He stared down at it as Caroline continued walking forward.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" said Klaus, smiling down at the melted snowflake before letting it run down his fingers.

Caroline turned to watch him, a friendly curious expression on her face, stepping a little towards him.

"Yeah," agreed Caroline simply, a weird sensation running through her.

Since when had Klaus ever been so appreciative of anything other than himself? Brushing away that thought, she told herself firmly, that's the thing. He doesn't care about anything but himself. Just look at the hybrid mess he made!

Seeing that she had moved backwards to see what had captivated him, Klaus was pleased that Caroline was giving him some attention. The night was dark and the air was cold but it was the perfect romantic setting for them – a beautiful, snowy night where he would win the heart of a beautiful, beautiful vampire princess.

"When I was a kid, my father couldn't appreciate the beauty," said Klaus calmly, sitting on the bench by the pink lady slippers, beckoning Caroline to sit beside him. "It was difficult when we had to fight for survival."

"When you were a kid?"

The words slipped out of Caroline's mouth before she could stop herself. She had forgotten that even a thousand or billion year old vampire like Klaus was a human before that, just like herself. He looked at her, a little surprised, but quickly smiled after that, looking humoured by her silly question.

"I was also human once," chuckled Klaus, though there was a deep look on his face as though he had dwelled deep down into his thoughts – into his human days.

He never really mentioned his father to anyone, let alone to his enemies, but he supposed that after he had saved her life, he was not quite sure how he felt about the girl anymore. What he did know was that he wanted to know her, and he wanted her to know him. But he dared not let it be deemed love, for he knew it was not love that he felt for her. It surely could not be.

Caroline sat down next to him, a grim expression on her face.

"Sucks when people take it away from you huh," uttered her with a small bitter smile.

For a moment there, he wondered if he had begrudged his mother and father for what they had done to him and his siblings. But… if they had never turned him into a vampire, he would never have made his first kill, never would have triggered the werewolf gene hidden in him… never would have known that he was not Mikael's son.

"To be honest, I like myself the way I am," shrugged Klaus, looking at her with his eyes to show that he had meant it. "Human-me would never have made it."

Anger flooded Caroline's face, causing her ears to redden a dangerous shade of scarlet. Scoffing at his indiscrete statement, she tossed her hair back so that the hate and disbelief in her strong blue eyes were plainly clear to him.

"So you like it that you kill people? What's wrong with you?" demanded Caroline.

"Haven't you killed someone?" Klaus shot back at her in a low voice, grimacing at her.

She glared at him, taken aback by his retort. Realising that she was getting very angry, Klaus sighed to himself and looked away from her.

"You should have seen me in the tenth century, Caroline. You would have liked me," said Klaus, a renewed calmness in his voice.

From most of what she knew of Klaus, she did not like, but here, a part of her was entertaining the idea of swooning over him. No matter how dominant, she knew she had to subdue that illogical part of her.

"Yeah, well. How would you know?" challenged Caroline, wrinkling her nose with distaste. "You were probably hot-tempered too in the past."

"Yes, indeed I was," agreed Klaus, nodding shamelessly. "But I was also like a lost puppy. Like your Tyler."

At his bringing up of Tyler, Caroline stiffened noticeably. Klaus noticed her tense posture and merely smiled. He waited and said nothing.

"Tyler and I are over," stated Caroline in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Why is that so, love?" asked Klaus patiently although he did know half the backstory of it.

When she did not answer but move her eyes to her hands that were knotted together, tightly clasped on her lap, Klaus peered at her more closely as though pretending to read her mind.

"Ah, unfaithfulness," said Klaus aloud, shaking his head. "Rebekah does that to a lot of men."

He saw the flit of jealousy that flashed through the hard blue eyes and was privately gratified at the sight. She continued to look down at her hands, still silent. Frowning slightly as though she was in deep thought, Klaus decided to break the ice that had submerged out of nowhere.

"You still haven't answered me. Why did you come?" asked Klaus in his most questioning tone, his brows shot up.

But Caroline seemed to have gathered her thoughts, creating a monstrous resentment deep in her. From the start, at the mention of Tyler's name, her knuckles had whitened. She thought hard about it and when she did, she knew that Klaus was partly at fault for their fallout. After Tyler had been sired to Klaus (turned into a vampire by Klaus and of course with Elena's blood), he became different. Not only was his obnoxiousness and hair trigger of a temper magnified as a hybrid, he turned over to Klaus' side, pledging allegiance to their enemy. But she still loved Tyler, she told herself that. He was still Tyler, her sweet if obnoxious boyfriend.

"The only reason why Tyler and I broke up was you," said Caroline hotly, her eyes narrowing at Klaus accusingly. "It's your fault. Why are you doing this to him?"

Startled by her outburst, his head snapped towards her and he looked very annoyed.

"I simply gave him freedom," drawled Klaus as though he had done the best thing in the world.

But his haughty statement made Caroline want to wring her hands around the hybrid before her although she knew she could never overpower or kill him.

"No, you forced him to be loyal," argued Caroline who was on the verge of yelling at him. "Because you don't think anyone is capable of loving you. Isn't it? Isn't that why you create your hybrid army – why you daggered your family? Because you thought they didn't love you enough?"

And that last rhetorical question she threw struck the nerve in Klaus that no one dared to hit. His face dramatically changed, an enraged provoked look veiling his previously smug face. The expression was murderous enough to frighten anyone…

"You're jumping to conclusions," warned Klaus through his bared teeth.

"Am I?" bellowed Caroline defiantly.

If anyone else had seen his face, they would have dragged Caroline out of the garden and scurried away. If Caroline was not careful, for someone with a quick temper like him, her head would no longer be tightly screwed anymore. He was barely containing the accustomed werewolf-like flames of fury sizzling inside him.

"Why don't you tell me that?" he spewed indignantly but his voice was low and almost calm. "And why did you come today? To be my friend like you've been pretending to be all night or spying on your friend Matt back there?"

The anger on Caroline's face evaporated replaced by a stupefied look. She opened her mouth to rebuff him, but the resentful monster within her had crippled, giving way to a rather sorry, shame-faced little creature.

"I am your friend," spoke Caroline, a touch of rue in her voice.

She stared at him with those fresh, blue eyes as anger took over him, willing for him to understand that she was his friend. She did listen to his stories after all.

"I think you should leave now," said Klaus in a smouldering voice, wearing an animal-like expression on his face as he glared at her with those blue green eyes that spoke of nothing but hate.

She turned on her heels and ran off using her nimble vampire speed, leaving him, leaving the garden, leaving the party. In a fit of mixed emotions, she had forgotten that she had been there all along to spy on Matt. Klaus watched her walk away silently and was glad that she did because he was getting very angry. He would lose control and things would get out of hand. He would never lay a finger on Caroline if he could help it, but his 'angry' self dismissed any exception.

* * *

Outside the Mikaelson Mansion, not too far away, the air was strangely lifeless at the dead of night as Katherine waited at the nearby carpark which the guests' cars had occupied, sitting comfortably on the front of a Lamborghini. From out of nowhere, Damon Salvatore appeared with Stefan behind him, approaching the Lamborghini slowly. The expression on Damon's face told Katherine that he was by no means happy at all.

"Where's Elena?" asked Stefan, sounding exhausted.

There was no curiosity in his light brown eyes; for someone who knew Katherine well enough, Stefan knew that she was not one who could be trusted. Katherine gave the brothers a sly smile. Not only was she the strongest out of the three, she had had a hold over them over a hundred years ago when they had fallen for her.

"She's not dead, Stefan, if that's what you're worried about," said Katherine scornfully, rolling her eyes.

"Where is she?" repeated Stefan from behind Damon, a threatening do-not-test-me edge to his voice.

"You got what you wanted, didn't you?" growled Damon, glaring at the brunette who did not seem fearful at all. "Just hand Elena over, this wasn't part of the deal."

Sighing impatiently, Katherine jumped off the Lamborghini to face them on the ground, though the look on her face told the Salvatores that she was definitely taking the situation lightly. She was smiling, though her eyes were as opaque as the foggy glass windows on a cold Christmas night. It was very hard for Stefan and Damon to know the slightest of what she was thinking.

"I hope I did," replied her, raising her eyebrows to clearly indicate that she was keeping something away from them, before turning to Damon, an annoyed look on her face. "You're right, Damon. She wasn't part of the deal. You didn't say I couldn't hurt her."

Roaring ferociously, Damon pounced on her but she was fast enough to evade him by leaping onto the Lamborghini at the speed of lightning. She was no longer smiling anymore. Realising that he had missed her, Damon's head swung around to detect her but Stefan reached him, pushing him against the car roughly.

"Damon! Stop it!" shouted Stefan, a look of dismay in his eyes.

"Let go of me!" warned Damon, wrenching himself free from Stefan with enough force to send a human being flying across the car park.

"Yes, Damon. Why don't you behave yourself like you used to?" snapped Katherine but it was evident that she was enjoying the interaction she was having with the two brothers.

With a grim expression on his face, Damon bit back his lip to retort but his crystal blue eyes gave away the loathing he felt for her. Next to him, Stefan did not look as bitter as his brother but he was grimacing at Katherine too.

"Relax, Stefan," said Katherine with the same tone she used to toy with them, batting her eyelashes deliberately. "I won't kill Elena. You know it. Klaus needs her. I'm just sending a warning, that's all. And having her around definitely gives me leverage."

Her tone could have suggested that she was talking about some piece of information, or money, or valuable market product – as though Elena was no more than an object to her.

"Well, maybe if you don't learn to behave, I might kill her. You know, by accident."

She threw Damon a look of utmost repulsion before jumping off the Lamborghini for the second time tonight. Watching her silently walk away from them, they did nothing to stop her from where they were.

"Where are you going?" Stefan called out loudly to her although being a vampire allowed her to hear even the sounds of rustling leaves from across the car park.

"I'm not done yet," she responded loudly without turning around, walking in the direction towards the Mikaelson Mansion.

* * *

In the dark, spooky-looking room, Esther was arranging the test tubes of potions that decorated the glowing dark green shelf near the wall like an old lady fond of moving furniture around out of boredom. She was moving them around, her body and hands clearly in contact with her room but her mind seemed to be elsewhere. Suddenly, the door creaked open, the sound as soft as the slow wheezing of a ceiling fan.

"Yes, Finn?" inquired Esther, her back facing her son.

Finn stood at the doorway, his legs rooted to the floor, his features frozen in a way that made him look brazen and anguished. Gone was the long black hair that had curtained his face, replaced by a short, cropped hair cut. It was strange to see him with short hair because it made him look awkward; where there should have been hair were now empty loose ends that had been chopped off due to the blazing fire.

"I told you," said her in a low voice when Finn did not speak at all. "I told you not to bring her. You listen to me all the time, Finn."

Numbed by the pain that stabbed his heart, Finn slowly stepped into the room, not even daring to breathe for fear that he might explode out of anger. This was worse than death, it was like nothing he had ever experienced. When his brothers and sister had left him daggered in Klaus' hand, the disappointment and hurt killed him for over nine hundred years as he lay in his coffin, sleeping and thinking. But this made it look like a finger cut. His mother had been the glowing flower in the garden of death that was his family. The flower had withered, leaving the garden completely lifeless.

"But why?" spoke Finn shakily, his lips trembling.

He hated the sound of his voice. It was weak and that was the last thing he wanted to be. Esther turned to face him, her face bunched up in agony that he had not expected to see. It startled him like a knife at the back of his throat, ashamed of causing pain to anyone because in his unpopular (unpopular to his siblings at least) opinion, causing someone pain was for vampires, not for him. It just could not be him.

"I'm sorry," said Esther, though her voice sounded cold and was similar to the voice of a person trying to brush off any annoying, pestering child. "It was an accident, okay. Just an accident. It's just… the girl… and everything else going on…"

She left it at that, seeming very apparently uninterested in giving a good explanation. At least she had apologised, she thought. Standing near her, facing her, Finn swayed a little like a fallen, crumbled man, his posture the perfect picture of despondence.

"Why did you?" repeated Finn, but his voice was no harsher than still water. _Why did you leave me to die again? _He thought but did not ask it out loud.

"Do you hate me, Finn?"

"I _hate_ what I am," replied Finn bleakly.

Esther was silent, knowing she was partially responsible for what he was, her face slacked and devoid of any emotions.

"Being mortal is much better than this," said Finn more vehemently, pointing at himself. "You know that!"

"Your father did this to protect you," she said softly before fixing her eyes that were glazed with cold fury on Finn. "I had to suffer the consequences. We suffered, Finn! For a thousand years, I had to suffer because I was too selfish in loving you."

She let out a suppressed sob before looking away from her son to hide any signs of weaknesses that she might have. Looking at her questioningly, Finn realised he had never known his mother's actions as he thought he had fully known. The word 'sacrifice' crossed his mind for the first time as the possibility of it being a form of her sacrificial love for her children struck him. But his mother had never been all that loving, a loving wife perhaps she was, but not mother.

"Mother…," started Finn.

But she cut him off.

"Enough," said her in a dismal tone, shaking her head.

"Don't hide anything from me, please," protested Finn with a strong plea in his voice. "I'll do anything to make it easier on you."

He moved towards her, putting his arms around her, embracing her tightly. Normally, a witch would have shuddered at the cold touch of death of a vampire (for they are the undead) but Esther did not resist her son's hug. Instead, she felt something hard inside crumbling, giving way to a softer side beneath the hard brick wall she had constructed.

"I can't tell you much right now," whispered Esther. "But I promise everything will be good again. Remember Ayana?"

Merely nodding, the face of a dark-skinned lady with beautiful dark locks floated across his mind. A thousand years ago, when he was just a small boy, he knew her as what his mother had called the 'Village's doctor' or 'Village's prophet' and reminisced those halcyon days he and Elijah would awe at her as she healed the deep, bloody wounds the villagers sported due to the many werewolf neighbours they had had. He also remembered how when Henrik had died, mauled by a werewolf like a sheep hacked to death, she had point-blank refused to bring him back to life. He did not think he remembered his mother speaking to or about Ayana since then.

"Yeah, of course I remember her," said Finn slowly, not sure if he should sound happy or angry at the sound of her name.

"She came back for me, Finn."

Something within the depth of those eyes staring at him shifted as though the truth was staring right in his face. It was time to tell him the truth. He would be the one to know, not Elijah, not Kol, not Niklaus or even Rebekah.

"What do you mean?"


	10. Internal and External struggles

**A/N: I just want to say a humble thank you to everyone who reviewed or followed or favourited this story. Whether you did one or all three of those, I really appreciate it that you are keeping up with this..:) **

**I know the suspense can be tiring, but trust me this story is going somewhere. I'm also sorry for changing the summary and title a couple of times. I figured that this will be my fixed title (A different Ending) because at least this story is centred around it. As for the summary, please let me know what you think... whether it is alright to keep updating it so you know what's in store for next chapter?;) Please let me know alright..:)**

**Just a little summary here: The plot involving Katherine and the plot involving Esther is about to overlap...:) Oh, and this is one of the chapters we get to see more of Kol..;) Of course, being Number One Troublemaker..**

As the waltz had ended and died down to a slow dance, Bonnie Bennett was alone again after Elena had left. She had no idea where Caroline was either. Growing tired of the stupid ball her mother had urged her to come along with her, she planned on leaving immediately right after she found her mother. But she had a very strong feeling her mother was not going to listen to her, not after she had met Esther, their so-called long lost friend. To Bonnie, it was intriguing to meet another witch, especially one that was not of their time, but she was feeling too awful about her best friend Elena.

As much as Elena was quarrelsome and braver than she should be, Bonnie thought the poor girl must have lost it tonight. Messing with Original vampires were no joke, Bonnie learnt it the hard way when she tried to take Klaus' life by using enough power to kill herself. She sighed to herself, scooping up a glass of punch from the green crystal bowl using the ladle. Perhaps, as an afterthought, everything Elena was had to do with Jenna's death…

Then, as though she felt eyes on her back, Bonnie turned around to see the same boy, pale like snowflakes and dark-haired, who had been conversing with Elena just a while ago, his hands in his pocket, smirking at the surprised look on her face.

"Hi, pretty," said Kol, watching her, a smirk firmly planted on his face.

True enough, he was handsome but Bonnie knew better; she knew a flirt when she saw one. A moment ago, he had made Elena feel awkward, Bonnie could tell from the obvious way Elena's doe-like eyes were wide with anxiety although she could not hear what the conversation was like. What Bonnie firmly knew was that she was not going to be taken in with the likes of a flirt.

"Hi," replied Bonnie casually, about to walk away but Kol blocked her path very quickly, startling Bonnie.

An irrational form of fear flooded Bonnie; how did he move so quickly? Kol was still smiling at the girl but in his mind, he found her rather interesting. From her eye movements and body language and tone, he could tell she was trying to brush him off, but he would not let it up so easily.

"Excuse me," Bonnie said firmly, her eyes narrowing at him.

His eyes contracted slightly as he frowned down at her, still not budging out of her way. Her heart racing, Bonnie Bennett had no idea what game he was playing but she was not planning on finding out. After all, she was a witch and could take down obstinate, strong-headed boys like him with the flick of a finger. She step sided him hurriedly but his hand seized her forearm so quickly it startled him. But what had really startled her was the cold touch of death she felt when she made contact with a vampire.

Smirking when she gasped, Kol released his clutch on her arm. She stared at him, the pieces finally coming together: the English accent, the strange, shady aura he had, the hair-raising swift movements.

"You're a _vampire_ – you're disgusting," hissed Bonnie, backing away from him.

His smile broadened, a confident light glint appearing in his dark eyes, not seeming worried at all that Bonnie knew what he was.

"And you're a witty little girl," grinned Kol eerily, obviously enjoying himself.

Sensing that he was stronger than normal vampires, Bonnie knew that she could not incapacitate the Original vampire with her powers alone so she would be a fool to try and play dirty with him. Instead, she walked away. In her mind, she knew she needed to find her mother – quickly. This time, Kol did not stop her but trailed behind her closely because he was not quite done with her yet.

"So what brings you here?" asked Kol boldly as though Bonnie wished to have an urbane conversation with him.

"Your mum invited my mum here," stated Bonnie fiercely. "Listen, can't you leave me alone?"

Inclining his head deliberately, Kol thought about it for a moment. He certainly did not like angering his mother – no matter how belligerent and fire-eating he was most among his brothers and sister, getting into either of his parents' wrong books would pay off dearly on his part. In truth, he had to admit he did secretly like being the troublemaker in the house – he was not like his poor excuse of a brother Finn, he did not grow softer or weaker simply because of his mother. He fancied himself as an unrestrained beast, not quite an obedient one.

A part of him warned him riotously that he was going to regret it, "_She's Mother's friend, Kol, Mother will NOT have you jesting with Mother's friends – she will be very upset! No, she will be more than upset! YOU KNOW THAT!", _but that was the part of him that feared and dreaded his mother's wrath. He _knew_ what he would regret more was letting go of the opportunity to toy with what he supposed was a family friend.

"C'mon, you look quite by yourself," teased Kol happily. "I took pity on you."

"I was looking for my friends," snapped Bonnie. "Leave me, go find someone else. I don't talk to vampires!"

Her heart was pumping fast with fear but she did not think he was going to get angry; in fact, she had a hunch that he seemed to be enjoying the insults she hurled at him. Reaching out the back of his hand to lightly touch the strands of her hair at the side of her face which fell from her hair bun, he narrowed his eyes, a serious dangerous gleam in them. But Bonnie smacked his hand away angrily, but still transfixed in her position, not daring to move as they exchanged their meanest, most unfriendly stare showdown.

From the corner of her eyes, Bonnie noticed Elena walking towards them with a new spring in her steps. Bonnie was feeling just as much glad as dread to see Elena; for a fact she did not want to be alone with Kol but he was obviously dangerous and could hurt her best friend too.

"Elena, we better go," said Bonnie hastily, giving Kol an icy stare.

His head turned to see Elena before turning back to take relishing pleasure in the alarmed look on Bonnie's face. He smirked a little although he did not want the fun to be over. But then Elena said something which startled him more than it amused him.

"I think I'm staying," simpered Elena at Bonnie. "I have a dance I can't miss."

Her eyes lingered on Kol before turning back to Bonnie who seemed like someone had doused a pail of ice water on her. A myriad of shock, anger and shame crossed her face before she stalked off, fuming away. Had Bonnie touched her, she would have felt the same cold touch of death she would have felt when she had touched Kol…

Because it could not be Elena, who was trapped in a box, in an isolated part of the mansion. It was Katherine, the shrewd, strong doppelgänger who was a tigress in comparison to her human doppelgänger.

"So are we going to dance?" purred Katherine, stepping closer towards him than Elena would have.

She twirled the bowtie on his collar, a giggle in her doe-like eyes. Kol simply gazed at her for a while, his eyes narrowing slightly but he did not move away. There was something different about the girl; she did not seem so plain or dull; it was as though she was an entirely different person.

"What are you doing?" said Kol, a half-amused small smile on his face but he did not move away from her touch.

"I like it better this way," whispered Katherine into his ear.

Perhaps she was drunk, Kol thought. Whatever it was, he did not care. The girl asked for a dance, what are you waiting for, Kol Mikaelson?

Kol put his arms around her as they joined the circle of partners who were in a slow dance since the waltz had ended. If Elijah and Nik had seen him, they would have broken his neck right after the guests left. He was sure of it. What he would have given for Elijah or Nik to be around, watching.

Katherine, on the other hand, was no fool. She knew Klaus well enough to know who his brothers and sisters were and what they were like; that was what five hundred years of running did to you. This was definitely Kol. The youngest Mikaelson son, the foolish and reckless, fun-loving one. He had never met her but she certainly knew him. She reckoned it was easier to be undetected around him rather than Elijah or even worse, Klaus, the hybrid who was hardly played for a fool.

With any luck, she was hoping that Johnny would be done soon and they would be able to leave the ball in a hurry before they put themselves in more danger. But Katherine had to admit, there was something enticing about Klaus' younger brother. It made it more bearable for her to keep him at bay and avoid being caught as much as possible.

"You were rather nasty to your friend over there," remarked an impressed and smiling Kol as they danced slowly.

"I can be very nasty sometimes," said Katherine in a low voice, her head resting on his shoulder in a calm manner.

* * *

"_Abigail Bennett…"_

She heard a soft, low moan as she was searching for her daughter in the ballroom. Spinning around, she felt some kind of emptiness fill her when she found no one speaking to her. Everyone was dancing slowly, pressed against each other but she could not find her daughter in the pretty, alabaster white dress.

"_Help…"_

Again, the voice sent a shockwave deep inside her, the kind of shockwave that only a witch could feel.

"_Help! Please!"_

The moaning was more vehement now but as soft as ever. Trying to find the source of noise, Abigail closed her eyes to shut all other senses except for the ones that could hear and feel the pitiful moaning. With her eyes closed, she began to walk in the direction unknowingly to an isolated part of the mansion. The moaning got louder and louder, an indication that she was walking the right way.

Then, all of a sudden, as though someone had turned off a switch, the moaning stopped. Abigail opened her eyes to see herself in a room she did not recognise. She spun one round to only see that there was none other than her in the room.

Without warning, the lights went out. Abigail almost screamed but the blood-curdling scream never left her throat for she was thrown off balance across the room. She banged against the wall and dropped to the floor. Recovering as quickly as she could, she began to withdraw the power from deep within her reserves, determined to fight back whatever monster was attacking her.

She could hear and see a blur as the creature moved from one spot to the other. Shutting her eyes and chanting wordlessly to herself in the hopes that she would stop the creature in its tracks, she felt herself weakening as though her powers were being drained away. Gasping to herself, she had never experienced such force that she had to fight against.

The locked glass windows of the room burst open as strong wind blew in. Confused, she looked around to see where the enemy was going to attack from next. But there was no attack. She only felt a deep, searing pain from within herself as though there was hot liquid inside her stomach threatening to burn her from inside. Her throat was on fire, burning with pain that the air did not seem to be able to enter her windpipe anymore. She felt needles poking at her lung as she coughed out dark red blood, feeling something within her dying. A part of her was dying – the magic part of her.

The agony was over after a few minutes. It seemed as though the attacker was not bent on torturing because he had fled ten minutes later, leaving a lifeless Abby Bennett on the floor, lying in a pool of her own blood.

* * *

Esther and Finn moved around the high-ceiling mansion, searching for the Bennetts after they had long waited for them in Esther's room to find that they were only testing their patience. Abigail had promised to meet Esther immediately right after she collected her daughter but since then, Esther had not heard from her. Something was terribly wrong, Esther's witch-like instincts told herself (Ayana had taught her foreshadowing too a thousand years ago when she had been Esther's mentor).

When Esther and Finn reached the room at the corner on the third floor, they almost choked from shock at the sickening scene of Abby lying on the floor, basking in her own blood. Finn recoiled involuntarily, his eyes turning an ugly beady black as he looked away, a retched look on his face. The smell of blood wafted over his nose like the aroma of chocolate to a small boy.

"Ayana," cried Esther softly as she bent down to place her fingers below Abby's nose which was running like a broken blood tap.

The sound was terrifying enough to Finn to turn around, appalled by his mother's breakdown. Trying to fight the dizziness from the sweet smell of blood, Finn pinched his nose, holding up the end of his sleeve to cover it.

"I… I can heal her," uttered Finn throatily.

"No, no," refused Esther adamantly, shaking her head. "She's still alive, I can heal her myself."

It stung Finn a little to know that Esther hated vampires that much, even refusing to save someone's life with the blood of a vampire. Then, out of the blue, Elijah flew into the room, moving past Finn. Stepping towards his mother who was kneeling down by Abby's side, Elijah took note of the astonishment that was written all over Finn and the motionless figure of Bonnie's mother. There was no kindness in his eyes as he gazed down at his mother.

"Elena has left, Mother," said Elijah simply with a cold edge. "Whatever you are up to, Elena will not be part of this."


	11. Disappointment with a capital D

**A/N: Sorry for the late update... Been hanging around during the holidays..:) I will never abandon this because I'm really excited to write this.;)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Vampire Diaries, any of the characters here, or this storyline which is inspired from TVD.**

**Hope you love this chapter.. Elijah is going to face some things he would never want to again. Klaus is in for more disappointments, sadly. Kol is stirring up trouble still... honestly, he has it coming. Rebekah is having a difficult time herself because of the broken family. Not much on Finn, Esther, Katherine yet.:)**

Esther stared up at her son, a little bewildered. In her shock, she had forgotten about Abigail Bennett who was lying down, writhing a little in pain due to the healing spell Esther had casted on her. Elijah merely stared back coolly without noticing Finn moving in from the side, a furious expression decorating his face.

"Don't talk like that to Mother," spat Finn, his face red and caveman-like from an exploding anger.

Ignoring the brother whom he had once formed a close bond to a long time ago before he was made a vampire, Elijah continued to stare at his mother, no patience swirling in his black eyes. Esther's eyes were cold as ice and expressionless as a corpse's eyes would have been. They were empty; there was no anger; the look of bewilderment on her face left her eyes too quickly to have been noticed. There was no soul in those pools of black.

"It's a misunderstanding, Finn," said Esther loudly so that her second son would not be involved in the clash. "Get the rest here now. I'm calling for a family meeting."

"What about –"

"It's alright, Finn," sighed Esther, waving them off impatiently. "She's alive. Not quite. But she is."

With that, Finn merely nodded and zoomed out of the room. As soon as Finn had left, Elijah glanced again at his mother, giving her a look of dismay as he shook his head. Then, he flew out of the room to find his two brothers and sister for what his mother had deemed "family meeting". From the way she had said it, Elijah expected that he would not find it a pleasant one.

He first spotted Rebekah in a slow dance with her date, Matt. Deciding it was better not to intrude upon his sister's privacy with the blond-haired boy, Elijah stood at the top of the stairs, his eyes on them. He had a clear view of everyone and could see Finn talking to Niklaus hastily, his hands pointing in all sorts of direction and a frantic look on his face.

"Rebekah, family meeting," whispered Elijah from where he was, knowing fully well that Rebekah could hear him with her vampire hearing ability.

But it was either Rebekah was ignoring him or she was not engaging her vampire senses. Elijah reckoned it was the latter because he knew his sister was not one to ignore matters concerning the family, as much as she knew the family was a very broken and damaged one. Knowing he had no other choice, he walked over to his smiling sister who had her eyes closed and head on Matt's shoulders.

"Rebekah."

One word from Elijah's mouth was enough to startle both of them who immediately tore apart. Matt looked away from them, blushing and awkward-looking, while Rebekah stood at his side, glaring at her elder brother.

"What, Elijah?" said Rebekah, annoyed.

"Mother wants us right now. Family meeting," said Elijah calmly, understanding in his eyes.

He was unsure of whether to tell Rebekah his gut feelings about Mother but he reckoned she would not believe him at all. She would probably refuse to.

"Matt, I'll be back later," whispered Rebekah to Matt apologetically.

Being an easy-going person, Matt nodded and understood. He even managed to give Elijah a sheepish smile before they walked away. Elijah cleverly returned his gesture with a you-better-be-okay-with-this smile. Rebekah was about to leave Elijah to find the rest of the siblings when a booming voice filled the room.

"Attention… Well, if the lady responsible for the fire endangering my dear brother's life could just kindly step out – oh, not forgetting, your little killer trick – we've got that covered too, right Finn? –"

Elijah and Rebekah swung their heads up to see that it was Niklaus with a microphone at the top of the stairwell, a notorious expression on his face. Standing next to him, Finn's eyes were darting from place to place with a sense of hopelessness and discomfort.

"– well, shouldn't this be your cue to leave then? I'm looking forward to see you at the doorway. Oh, don't worry, I'll bring along your friend's head too. Just in case you want it back, sweetheart."

After the announcement, he left in a huff, a dangerous sadistic flame dancing in his eyes. Finn ran in another direction, screaming "MOTHER! MOTHER!". Rebekah turned to Elijah, a look of utmost exasperation planted on her face.

"I can't stand his crap anymore," spluttered her angrily before walking away in the same direction that Finn had gone.

Despite feeling alarmed, Elijah knew Niklaus would not win tonight – not if Mother could help it and if Finn the Tattletale was quick enough to reach her ears. As Elijah walked over to the top of the stairs, where Klaus had just been a while ago, to detect his youngest brother Kol, he was in deep thought about what the family meeting might be about tonight.

Kol was in the midst of a slow dance with Katherine, deeply enjoying himself. In spite of himself, he had to admit that perhaps the girl was not so plain after all. After hearing the announcement, Katherine felt a lump in her throat. What if Johnny really was dead? If what Klaus had said was true, then Johnny was dead…

She pulled herself away immediately and walked away from Kol. If it was true that Johnny was dead, she had to escape quickly before Klaus discovered her. But she realised dreadfully that it was not going to be easy to escape if Kol was going to follow her around.

"What's wrong?" asked Kol, confused.

She quickened her steps but Kol blocked her path with lightning speed, shocking her. The only way to escape was if she used her vampire speed – he would be too stunned to immediately run after her, not knowing that she was a vampire. But she would be risking her identity as Elena and even worse, be risking exposure to Klaus.

"Just _please _– leave me alone," said Katherine angrily, slightly backing away from him, deciding this was how the pathetic, fearful Elena would behave.

"Well, that's the third time I've heard that," chuckled Kol, a dangerous predatory gleam in his eyes.

Katherine felt her heart thumping fast. At this very moment, she had to make a deadly decision – did she have to risk exposure? She looked up at the creepy smile on the face of the Original vampire before her and she knew she had to.

"Kol, not again," hissed a voice from behind.

Both Kol and Katherine did not have to turn around to know that it was Kol's oldest brother, Elijah, who had a serious look on his face. Elijah was glaring at his brother who had countless of times stirred up trouble for the family. Katherine knew that with Elijah around, she could not make a run for it anymore. If he knew that was her and not Elena, she was absolutely done for. Elijah was almost as deadly as Klaus. Kol did not look very annoyed but he sure did not seem too happy with his brother.

"It's Mother," stated Elijah to his brother, expecting his brother to take his words seriously. "She wants a family meeting now."

Kol nodded in acknowledgement and turned to Katherine, giving her a smile that sent shivers down her spine. Elijah turned to face Katherine too, a strange expression on his face. That sent even more shivers down her spine.

"I guess there won't be a fourth time," said kol softly to her before turning to Elijah. "See you, brother."

Not bothering to argue with his brother, he patted Elijah on the shoulder before walking away. Elijah continued to survey Katherine with a blank look on his face.

"Elena…" said Elijah drawlingly without a smile. "What on Earth are you still doing here?"

"I….I…"

Katherine had no idea what she should say. At this very second, she began to spin a ridiculous story in her head. Elijah gazed at her, still waiting for a response.

"It's just your brother… Uh – he wanted to dance. I couldn't say no, could I?" said Katherine, stuttering a little.

Elijah's brows shot up in disbelief, a do-you-really-think-I'm-stupid look in his misty black eyes.

"What fourth time then?" demanded Elijah.

"That was nothing," said Katherine hurriedly. "Listen, I need to leave already."

"I'll walk you out then."

Was it just her or was there something malicious about the way he had spoken?

"No, you need to be at your family meeting," said Katherine with finality, shaking her head in refusal as she walked to the front door.

"No, I insist," replied the persistent Elijah confidently.

Katherine had no response to that. If she had protested, she thought he might have heard the trembling and shaking of her voice. She felt as though her heart had stopped beating. As they walked out together, Katherine felt the wooden dagger that she had safely kept in her heel and knew it was going to be of good use. Elijah zoomed in front of her all of a sudden, his eyes burning into hers.

"I need you to follow me to that alley, _Elena_," said Elijah calmly although the way he stretched her name a little longer, staring into her eyes.

Knowing that he was compelling her to do so, although she had drunk vervain earlier to prevent compulsion, Katherine obeyed and followed him into the alley without hesitation. As they walked deeper into the alley, she removed the wooden dagger from her heel secretly without him noticing as he walking ahead of her. He finally stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, an unfathomable look on his face.

"You didn't really think you can fool me, did you, _Katerina?_" asked Elijah mirthlessly, staring at the wide-eyed doppelgänger. "You may fool my brother, you may fool everyone – but not me."

The fear in Katherine's doe-like eyes swirled as the voice inside her screamed of terror. She was petrified for a moment because she knew right here, right now, Elijah could finish her off once and for all.

"What are you really doing here?" Elijah went on, feigning polite curiousity. "If Klaus finds you, he will kill you for sure. No, maybe he won't. He thinks death is too kind."

She had to come up with something – to say and distract him. She knew if she was clever enough, she could still escape Elijah's wrath at least.

"I'm not trying to hurt you," she lied convincingly, a hurt look in her enlarged eyes. "I just want Klaus to pay."

The shadows within the depths of his eyes shifted a little.

"Go back to being a runner, Katerina," said Elijah blankly, but there was a tinge of concern in his voice. "You can't make Klaus pay. No one can."

Tears welled up in her round, brown eyes.

"He killed my family, Elijah."

Sadness stabbed Elijah like it had done so five hundred years ago because of the same girl. He felt the tears pricking in his eyes but stopped them forcibly from coming out. It felt pathetic – as a vampire, it was easy to kill, it was easy to compel, to turn off one's humanity, but to stop tears that threatened to gush out needed a strength he did not have.

"Then so be it, Katerina," said Elijah curtly. "Vengeance will not pay on your part. I should be running after you and bringing you back to him."

But Katherine was more than convinced by the faint grief on Elijah's face that he would not do such a thing. He was not as monstrous as Klaus – it was a weakness she could definitely exploit.

"I will run, then," said her firmly, tears finally rolling down her cheeks. "But I won't be running forever."

"Quickly or I will be able to catch up with you," warned Elijah through gritted teeth.

He stared into her eyes, about to compel her again.

"Run now. I'll give you a ten-second head start," said Elijah, moving back so she could run.

She gazed at him, giving him a perplexed look, but she knew that she had successfully held him back. It was easy to see through him and see that he was not planning on capturing her after all. It was going to be another 'accident' that he was going to have to tell Klaus, another story where she managed to escape from him when he tried to capture her. She felt the blade of the dagger hidden in her hand and flipped it around so that the sharp end pointed at Elijah.

"This is going to hurt a little," whispered Katherine, pulling the dagger back.

A shocked look crossed his face but before he could react, Katherine had plunged the wooden dagger into his chest. He let out a startled choking sound before dropping to the ground, the ghost of his shock left in his empty eyes. Immediately, like a bat, Katherine took off without a sound. There was probably going to be another day ahead of her where Elijah will get his revenge but she was too worried about Johnny to think about that. And perhaps hopefully Elijah would know too that she had not intended on killing him because that dagger obviously could not kill him.

They were all gathered in one large dim room, waiting for the arrival of one more person in silence. The only lighting was the candle and the small lamp on a dusty desk. Finn was standing next to his mother, looking on as she healed Abby Bennett back to life. Rebekah sat on the chair by an empty dressing table (it was a dressing table because of the large oval mirror that had been glued to the edge of the table), her curious eyes on Esther too. Next to her, Kol was leaning against the back of her chair, a bored expression on his face.

Klaus was pacing up and down the room with a furious look on his face and every once in a wild his head turned to throw Finn a deathly glare. Noticing this, Finn shuddered a little and tried his best not to look at his frightening younger brother. Finn had run in screaming for Mother when Klaus was waiting at the doorway and searching for Katherine, ruining his plan. No matter how strong he was, Mother was not one Niklaus could disobey. All he could do was count on Elijah to have found Katherine.

After learning about the attack on Abby from Finn, Klaus had also felt a sudden need to have a witch by his side – a witch that he could count on obviously, which would exclude his mother. Whoever was helping Katherine out there was targeting witches to eliminate threat and Bonnie Bennett could be next.

The meeting would not start until Elijah was back. It felt like ten minutes or so before Esther got up, frowning.

"Where is Elijah?" asked Esther worriedly.

Klaus stopped in his tracks.

"I don't know, maybe I should go see," suggested Klaus. "Something might have happened to him."

He saw that Esther was about to disallow him to do so but she deliberated and agreed silently that Elijah might be in danger though she doubted that Elijah could possibly in any mortal danger.

"Alright…" said Esther doubtfully. "We should bring this party to an end too. Go look for him, Niklaus."

Klaus nodded his head and turned to face Rebekah on the chair, giving her a furtive look.

"Bekah, do me a favour – take Bonnie home. She might be next," whispered Klaus, giving Abby a glance.

Rebekah wanted to roll her eyes and tell him "No way am I doing anything for you, Nik" but she simply nodded, knowing it was important to him. Furthermore, even when she hated him and was angry at him for his many indiscretions, she was going to forgive him in the end. Kol, who had overheard Klaus, smiled to himself, deciding secretly that he wanted to 'do a favour' too.

As Finn and Esther left to commence the end of the party, the guests began to file out of the mansion, thanking them as they took their last sip of wine. Bonnie was one of the only guests who had not left because she had to wait for her mother. Rebekah approached her holding up the keys to Elijah's black car with Kol following suit from behind. Seeing the two of them, Bonnie tensed up and stared at Rebekah coldly.

"What do you want?" asked Bonnie stiffly.

"Nothing," answered Rebekah tonelessly, looking at Bonnie condescendingly. "Just going to take you home… Nik's orders. You really shouldn't be here. Your mother was attacked."

Shock flooded Bonnie's face. Rebekah merely smiled, observing the witch's face. Deciding it was better to just listen to the Original vampire girl, Bonnie followed Rebekah who led her and Kol outside the mansion. The air outside was cold and freezing as the thick white snow was building up. Many guests were still standing around the front of the Mikaelson Mansion, chatting or walking slowly.

As they squeezed through the crowd, they finally reached the black car parked at a carpark nearby the mansion, which apparently belonged to the family. There were also groups of guests there, getting into their cars and ready to go home.

Before they got into the car, Rebekah was already having doubts about Kol. She was almost certain that he had something else in mind. He was smiling too happily for her to brush her doubts aside.

"Let's get in before we freeze, shall we?" suggested Kol excitedly, his face full of animation.

"Uh…" said Rebekah, not sure of how to get rid of him without making it explicitly clear that she knew he had some other form of intention. "Maybe I should go alone. I don't want Nik to get mad."

But Kol's eyes darkened at the mention of Nik. He could see through her little excuse.

"Don't be like this, Rebekah," said Kol in a low voice. "And what does it matter? Did he compel you to get you to care?"

That was the problem Rebekah had with Kol. As much fun as he could be to Rebekah, his poor jokes were commonly at the expense of someone who was usually Nik. And it was different when she was with Kol compared to when she was with Nik. With Kol, it had always been more difficult to admit that she cared about anything. But with Nik, caring came without a saying – because as her half-brother, he needed it perhaps more than she needed it. Bonnie just stared from brother to sister, a clueless look on her face.

"I'm done talking to you," said Rebekah, a little affronted. "I don't know –"

"Is everything okay?"

Matt appeared from behind them. He was about to drive away in his truck after deciding that perhaps Rebekah was not coming back to see him when he suddenly saw Rebekah in what seemed like an argument from her facial expression. Matt looked from Kol to Rebekah and lastly to Bonnie, puzzlement all over his face.

"Matt?" said Rebekah, startled.

"Where were you? I tried to find you," said Matt, looking upset. "Is everything okay?"

Kol looked at Matt who stared at him, feeling uneasy. There was something not right about the boy…

"You must be Rebekah's friend Matt," said Kol in an overfriendly tone, beaming at him.

Rebekah blushed crimson red – how did he know about Matt? But sensing the danger and the mischevious smile on Kol's face, she knew he was going to do something awful. At the side of the black car, Bonnie recognised the expression on Kol's face that she had seen earlier at the ball and that subtly revealed his maniacal tendencies and felt her heart in her mouth.

"I'm fine, Matt," said Bonnie fiercely, giving him an alarmed look.

Before Kol could step in, Rebekah grabbed his hand so that he would not move forward. He frowned at her, his eyes contracted to challenge and dare her but did not push her hand away. She knew Kol would not hesitate to hurt humans but she simply had to protect Matt. She had to make a decision, both of which could lead to terrible consequences - Matt or Bonnie? She glanced at Bonnie who willed with her eyes to Rebekah, giving her consent.

"Sorry," apologised Rebekah to Matt but she felt like she was speaking to Bonnie too at the same time. "Matt, go to your truck. I'm coming."

Matt stared at her suspiciously and taking a hint, walked back to his truck, turning once in a while to glance at Kol, a serious look on his face. Kol turned to look at Rebekah who had released his hand as Matt walked away. He had one brow up and he was looking rather annoyed.

"Good job, sister," said Kol coolly, the peeved look on his face gone.

He made it sound like a test and one that she had most certainly failed. Kol could be like Nik sometimes - he was hard on her when he wanted to be but in an entirely different way. He stepped forward, about to go after Matt but Rebekah moved in front of him, obstructing his path.

"Kol – don't," warned Rebekah seriously, tears pricking at her eyes.

"And what is he to you?" asked Kol with his eyebrows shot up, letting out a frustrated sigh. "You're seeing him? Don't be so pathetic, Rebekah."

His remarks cut her like a poison oak dagger would have and at that very moment, she could only feel pity and hurt for herself. There were times when she told herself that she had never wanted this - never wanted to be a vampire, never wanted a broken family, never wanted a brother like that, never wanted to be the girl she was, Rebekah Mikaelson - but she no longer wanted to run away from what she had left. After a while, it was more sensible to believe that life was cruel and who was she to ask for more?

"I don't know what your deal is," replied Rebekah with forced calmness through clenched teeth, glaring at Kol, "but leave him ALONE, alright?"

She turned to Bonnie and the anger on her face fell to a softer expression. "Take care, witch. Don't let my brother mess with you."

With that, she stuffed the car keys into his hand and walked away towards Matt, leaving Bonnie alone with Kol. He stood where he was, staring after her, a bitter look on his face but the bitterness evaporated quickly, giving way to a sly smile.

"I won't," said Kol, smiling devilishly.

He unlocked the car and turned to smile at Bonnie, cocking his head slightly towards the car, beckoning her to go inside. As much as Bonnie felt fearful of him, she did not show it. She was quite intrigued by the conversation he had with Rebekah. Rethinking again as she got into the car, she realised Rebekah was not as terrible as Elena had made her out to be.

"Well, how has your evening been?" asked Kol politely without looking at her as he drove.

But Bonnie could see the creepy smile he had on his face, as though he was keeping something away and having a secret agenda. His politeness was probably just a façade.

"Don't act nice to me," snapped Bonnie. "I know what you really are like and we're not friends."

She was surprised to hear a chuckle from him.

"We are not friends," said Kol, grinning cheekily. "You seem to like your friend back there to want to get into this car with me."

Bonnie had no reply to that. If she was having a conversation with Klaus, she would probably be disgusted by his sadism. But talking to his younger brother only made her feel annoyed. She wanted very much to wipe the smug smile off his face – he seemed like he was too full of himself.

For a moment, it was silent and Kol was no longer coaxing her to talk. He seemed to be lost in deep thought behind the steering wheel. Bonnie quickly fished out her mobile phone, sending a text message to both Stefan and Damon.

_Klaus' brother with me right now. Coming to my house. Come quick._

Kol's eyes turned to her to see what she was up to. She felt her heart stop beating. But he merely turned away again, not realising that she could have texted the enemies. Bonnie silently heaved a sigh of relief, closing her eyes for a moment to count her blessings. Kol saw the anxiety all over her face and smirked.

"So tell me about yourself," said Kol, smiling with his eyes on the road.

Bonnie felt a new fresh stab of annoyance. She was wondering what game he was playing at. It was clear he was just toying with her and Bonnie would not give him the satisfaction of falling for his tricks.

"Why do I have to tell you anything?" demanded Bonnie. "Just drive me home and stop talking to me!"

For some reason, he was still calm and composed, unaffected by what Bonnie had said. She had been right all along – he was indeed enjoying what was a mere game to him.

"I don't have to drive you home," replied Kol simply. "I don't have to let you out of this car. I can keep driving you round and round until you answer me."

She felt like screaming at him. Fuming away, Bonnie fought the urge to try and incapacitate him – she knew well enough that she was not strong enough to take down an Original vampire. If she tried anything funny, he would probably kill her off.

Kol was not going to give up so easily. He was eyeing her from the corner of his eyes, a smirk firmly planted across his face.

"In return, I could let you know something about myself," said Kol in his persuasive coaxing voice.

Bonnie took a deep breath and decided that she had no other choice.

"I used to be a cheerleader," said Bonnie and suddenly her eyes became dull. "But I'm not anymore. I was too caught up with being a witch. I left the squad for good."

Bonnie found herself feeling emotional and cursed silently, scolding herself. _Why are you being so emotional? He doesn't care! _She sat straight up, senses being knocked into her head. She realised that Kol would not care – perhaps pretend to care – because she was just a plaything to him.

"That's all?" asked Kol, a little surprised the story ended so quickly.

"Yeah, that's all," replied Bonnie slowly, a faraway look in her eyes. "Stop acting like you want to know me. Because we are _mortal enemies._"

There was no sass or coyness in her voice but Kol did not seem dampened at all by her harsh words. In fact, his smile widened, and he looked more contented.

"Oh, move your prejudice aside," chortled Kol, giving her a wink.

But Bonnie suddenly had something else in mind – she could use this to find out more about Klaus and the family. Knowing more about the enemy did mean a better chance at finding a weakness sometimes.

"Why don't you tell me about your brother?" asked Bonnie slowly and when Kol raised his eyebrows questioningly, she went on. "Klaus. Why did he dagger you? Since I told you already, it's your turn."

Kol's eyes that had been shining brightly suddenly lost the shine and turned dull. The gloat in the darkness crept away. There was nothing but dullness in the dark eyes.

"My brother is not a topic of conversation for now," stated Kol without a smile.

Silence fell in the car. Bonnie did not say anything to that. If she had found Kol's arrogant and playful behaviour dangerous, his being serious was a hundred times scarier.

* * *

Elijah awoke to find himself in an alley with a wooden dagger in his chest. Pulling out the wooden dagger, he slowly sat straight up. He remembered everything – he had compelled her but she had staked him; she had not been under his compulsion all along. A strong surge of anger pulsed through him. But he could not admit even to himself that he was most disappointed.

"You're awake finally."

Elijah turned, surprised to see Klaus sitting on a pile of stacked cardboard boxes, rubbing his fingers against the dusty brown cardboard. His eyes moved up from the cardboard to settle on Elijah. For a while, nothing was spoken.

"You want to tell me what happened?" asked Klaus, getting off the cardboard boxes.

"She got away again. I wasn't careful," lied Elijah, his face betraying no emotions.

Klaus studied his face, and then he smiled a smile that did not reach his sea green eyes. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the wooden dagger on the ground and picked it up. He moved closer to Elijah who stood up, staring warily at the dagger in his hand.

"You should have been more careful then," said Klaus calmly, his smile turning grim. "Don't let your feelings get in the way, brother. Don't be so pathetic."

For a moment, Elijah was stunned and he thought Klaus was about to drive the dagger into him. But Klaus merely stood at where he was, his eyes a blazing green of fury. Elijah was feeling very helpless indeed - the last thing he wanted to do was betray his brother souring their ties, but with Katerina, it was becoming inevitable.

"I don't feel anything for her. Family above all," said Elijah coldly.

"SEE, I'm tired of hearing your lies, Elijah," spewed Klaus furiously.

Throwing the dagger forcefully against the hard brick wall of the alley, he spun around and stormed off, leaving a speechless blank-face Elijah. Before he walked out of the alley, he turned back one last time.

"It's funny how you can lie to my face like that. You love this girl, don't you? To hell with the both of you!"

With that, he walked off, disappearing into the darkness. Elijah stood rooted to the ground for at least a minute, a wounded look in his eyes, before deciding to head for home with his vampire speed.

When he reached home, he realized that no one was around anymore. The ballroom was strangely empty, the crystal water fountain was suddenly lonely and the pink white and dark green clothed tables were by themselves. The party was over, leaving Finn and Mother to clean up the mess the guests had created.

Elijah entered the living room to see a broody Klaus by the fireplace helping himself to a bottle of Jack Daniel's. Without greeting, Elijah stood next to Klaus, staring into the fire. Klaus looked up to see his brother and held up the glass bottle in his hand, offering it to him. A little surprised, he took the glass bottle without a word and silently poured the wine into a cup on the table nearby.

They drank at the same time, Klaus drinking from the bottle that Elijah had handed back to him and Elijah from the wine cup. For a moment there, the anger and resentment over betrayal abated, leaving just a trace of brotherhood.

Then, Rebekah walked in and Klaus turned to greet her.

"Ah, little sister," exclaimed Klaus, speaking for the first time since he had been in the room. "Join us for our little _celebration."_

The last word dripped with bitterness directed at Elijah. Rebekah nodded, not sensing that something was not right, as she walked over to the sofa to sit down.

"Where's Kol?" asked Klaus, finding it strange that their brother was not with either Rebekah or them.

"Oh – that," said Rebekah guiltily.

Klaus saw the apologetic expression on her face and slammed down his Jack Daniel's, glaring at Rebekah. Rebekah felt something squirm inside her, knowing that Nik was going to be very upset with what she had to say next.

"What?" demanded Klaus.

"He took the witch home," she got it out of her throat as fast as she could and stood up immediately from the couch.

"WHAT!" yelled Klaus before barging out of the room.

She knew it was best not to stand in his way and just stood by the sofa as he zoomed out. Elijah followed suit, flying after Klaus. Rebekah sighed to herself. She was nothing but a disappointment to Nik, but if she had not made sure Matt reached his doorsteps safely tonight, she would have blamed herself forever. Sometimes life left us helpless and clueless. Either way we lose someone.

**A/N: That last paragraph - you could count it as a premonition for Rebekah. And the truth in what she thinks.:)**


	12. Don't Step out of Line

The black car finally drove up to the front of the Bennett's house. The entire street was dark except for the bright circle of light shone down from a tall black lamp-post.

This was where the fun would begin for Kol. If Bonnie had thought that he was simply going to drive and send her home without harming her, she was going to be very wrong. But as he parked the car, Kol, engaged in his vampire hearing senses, could hear people talking not too far away. It was indeed a very interesting conversation to eavesdrop on.

"They're here, Damon!" squeaked one of them.

"Okay," growled the other one. "One, two, three, we hold 'em down."

"You really think we can hold _Elijah _down?" trembled the first voice.

"Just do as I say!" snapped the second person.

Curious and intrigued, Kol aborted his plan to harm the witch, believing he had caught something bigger. Whoever they were, they sounded foolish to want to challenge Original vampires like Elijah and himself. He looked sideways at the witch and wondered whether she had something to do with this. No, she was most certainly behind this.

He got out of the car with Bonnie, walking her to the house door, feigning that he did not know what they were up to.

Bonnie studied him from the corner of her eyes and saw that he was still unaware of what was truly going on (or so she thought). Halfway through walking towards the front porch of her house, Bonnie stopped and turned to look up at Kol.

"I'm not going in yet," said Bonnie simply.

It was just an excuse used to get him to allow Stefan and Damon to interfere in time before they neared the front porch of the house. Kol was infamously known to be reckless and foolish even but what people did not know was his sharp ability honed over the last thousand years to predict humans easily. He could be the one that lacked tact but unlike his sister and brother, he was too shrewd for misplaced loyalty or trust. He could see through Bonnie Bennett's words; her intention was crystal clear to him. But he did not flip like a switch like Nik would have. He was more calm and collected about it.

He frowned down at Bonnie innocently, his eyebrows shot up in a questioning slant. Staring at him, Bonnie was not sure whether she had seen that knowing smile in his dark eyes. She shoved the thought aside and looked behind him, seeing Stefan and Damon appearing out of the darkness to step into the small circle of light, each brandishing a white oak ash dagger.

Damon had a menacing smile on his face while Stefan tagged along from behind his brother, an anxious look in his puppy brown eyes.

"Well, well… I thought it was going to be Elijah!" snorted Damon, letting out a mirthless laughter. "Looks like we just have lil bro to deal with."

Kol turned away from Bonnie to face the two of them who stood in the only circle of light provided by the lamppost, his eyes scanning over them like a tiger scanning a deer. Bonnie began to slowly back away as Kol continued to look at the Salvatore brothers, who had his full attention. Stefan gave his brother a terrified look as though his brother had said the worst thing ever.

Kol was just a still figure in the darkness. They could make out almost nothing of his face but from his tall height and pale white skin, they figured enough that it was not Elijah. But Stefan could feel a frightening aura about him. Even his stillness distracted Stefan and created a sense of disquiet.

"Uh… Damon," muttered Stefan nervously.

Stefan nudged his brother in the arm with his elbow but Damon shot him a threatening glare before turning back to the enemy. Kol merely stood where he was, an offended look on his face.

"Little brother, really!" exclaimed Kol with a mix of feeling amused and affronted.

Damon stepped out of the light circle into the darkness to get a closer look at Kol. He could see Kol's face now; pale-faced, dark-haired, dark eyes. There was something recognizable about the features.

There was a stark absence of fear in Damon's hard light blue eyes. In Damon's mind, he was an Original vampire so he had to die because Damon hated the Originals. Stefan straggled along from behind, his body taut, ready for Damon's command. His eyes, however, were wide and swirling with utmost fear.

Kol stared at them, unmoving. There was an almost bored expression on his face as though he was waiting for their first move. Damon began to arch his back, his eyes burning blue flames of hatred for the Original vampire before him.

"ONE, TWO, THREE!" roared Damon, leaping towards Kol.

Stefan jumped, tightening his fists but the next second, when he landed, Kol was no longer there. Swearing angrily, Damon bumped into him violently, knocking him to the ground yelping in pain. Shock paralyzed Damon for his eyes froze and the bravado in them slipped away.

"Damon, he's an original too –," hissed Stefan from the pain as he got to his feet.

"Shut up! Don't let your guard down!" snarled Damon, but fear had already crept into his sapphire blue eyes.

They swung their heads around to scan for Kol in the darkness, their backs against each other. Bonnie stood where she was, frozen. She felt her confidence earlier to take Kol down with Stefan and Damon fade away.

"Over here!" called out Kol excitedly from the darkness.

He was across the road, leaning against the wooden red fences of the house opposite the Bennetts. He was strangely patient and calm – waiting by the fences for another attack. Losing no time, Damon zoomed towards him, his blue eyes set hard as granite.

"Where's Elena?" asked Damon dangerously, his voice and eyes hard.

Kol had an eerie smile on his face that disturbed Damon. It was as though he was seeing through Damon and predicting him – and Kol was good at that. He cocked his head sideways in a predatory questioning gesture.

"Elena…," said Kol slowly and his eyes grew more gleeful. "I don't know who that is."

Damon wanted to believe him but he looked into those eyes and saw something menacing and monstrous about them. The eyes were mocking him and even challenging him. The laughter in them told him that he was lying and that he wanted Damon to know it.

"He's lying, Damon!" yelled Bonnie from where she stood.

But before either one could react, Kol zoomed towards Bonnie, a grave look on his face.

"Don't interfere, little witch."

He slapped her and she flew far, the side of her body knocking into the large garbage bins right outside her front porch. There was a loud crashing sound and the sound of Bonnie gasping in pain.

She felt the force of his supernatural strength unlike any other ordinary vampire's. From the intensity of the pain, she was likely to have three broken ribs.

Growling angrily, Stefan charged towards Kol with his white oak ash dagger. But Kol was too fast for him – he whipped around in time to push the dagger out of Stefan's hand. His hand flew to Stefan's throat, grabbing and throwing him aside violently by the throat.

Stefan crashed into the red fences hard, causing the fences to break apart. The impact was enough to crush his backbone that he was finding it difficult to get up. He realized now how foolish they had been to pick a fight with an _Original. _

Before he could even get up or Damon could come to the rescue, Kol had moved into him, picked up one of the sharp-edged broken pieces of the fence, plunged it right into Stefan. Damon's eyes widened in shock as the sharp weapon pierced into Stefan's abdomen. Stefan was paralysed suddenly, unable to speak or move, as he fell face forward onto the ground.

"STEF!" cried Damon as he flew to his brother's side.

Kol watched them nonchalantly as he bent to pick up another broken piece of the fence. Realising its edges were not sharp enough, Kol frowned and dropped it back with disdain. Damon turned to look at Kol, furious.

"You shouldn't have touched my brother," growled Damon, baring his fangs.

"I think I missed his heart," offered Kol some comfort, sounding a little disappointed.

Damon did not strike but continued staring at him, held back by the knowledge that this was not a fight he was going to win. Their only hope was escape.

Kol leaned towards Stefan, who was panting softly.

"So Stef, where do you come from?" asked Kol casually, his smile a beckoning gesture.

But Stefan's face was on the ground as he breathed hard and fast, fighting the urge to move as writhing caused him only more pain.

"Look at me," said Kol quietly with a subtle commanding tone.

Slowly, Stefan lifted his head up in agony and groaned. He felt dizzy with sickness. He felt something sharp inside his stomach and begged that he would be numb enough not to feel it anymore. As he obeyed Kol to look at him, he saw that there was a tinge of impatience in those dark eyes and the playful smile. He felt sick with fright.

He tried hard to talk, but the words could not come out right. The excruciating pain anchored his voice to the bottom and increased in intensity each time he tried to use his voice.

"You're choking, talk a little clearly," said Kol with a rather satisfied smile on his face.

Damon had been silent for some time because he had been analysing Kol's face, which involuntarily rang a bell in his head. Pale-faced, jet black hair, dark eyes. Who was he? Damon could not quite fathom the weird sense of familiarity.

"I know you from somewhere…," spoke Damon, looking at Kol suspiciously and suddenly a memory jolted him. "You were in England…"

Kol looked a little startled; this had not been the confrontation he had been expecting. But he turned to Damon with an untroubled expression.

"I've been everywhere," replied Kol, smiling condescendingly. "And a dull face like yours isn't worth remembering."

His comment was akin to a slap in the face. Fueled by anger, Damon tightened his grip on the white oak ash dagger.

"Uh-oh, be careful of who you insult," hissed Damon, glaring at Kol.

"Aren't you having the least bit of fun?" asked Kol jauntily, ignoring Damon's statement. "It's a three-on-one! If you're not having fun, maybe I should end it altogether."

A gnarly growl escaped Damon's throat as he leaped for his golden opportunity to defeat Kol, the dagger in hand pointing at target. Kol did nothing to stop him. Damon grabbed him by the throat, ready to stab him and ready to die along with him because the dagger would claim both lives.

"_Stop."_

His dark eyes bored into Damon's sapphire blue eyes, compelling him. Damon stopped in his tracks as his eyes went momentarily blank. He did not let the Original go but he found that for some reason, he could not swing the dagger into him. Some supernatural force was binding him from doing so.

"Take your hand off me," said Kol calmly, smiling, completely in control.

Bonnie who had just recovered from the blow earlier gasped when she saw Damon abide and remove his hand that clamped Kol's throat. There was a look of utmost horror on Damon's face that made Bonnie's hair stand on end.

"There's a good girl," said Kol mockingly, tilting his head slightly towards the white oak ash dagger in Damon's hand. "Now I want you to walk over to your brother… and put this dagger in his heart."

"No," muttered Damon grudgingly.

But he turned around and walked over to Stefan, his face emotionless. Stefan was lying face down again, breathing slowly. The piece of wooden fence was still in him. Damon knelt down beside his brother and sadness flooded his face.

He was unable to betray the supernatural order Kol had given him. He turned Stefan around to lie on his back. Stefan saw him and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Damon," mumbled Stefan weakly, a small smile on his face.

But Damon was too teary-eyed to respond. Noticing the unfocused state his brother was in, Stefan realized Damon was compelled and writhed hard to get away. But he stopped almost immediately because of the attack of the unbearable pain.

"Damon, what're you doing…," uttered Stefan in a soft, hoarse voice.

He closed his eyes. He closed his ears. Without answering, he brought the dagger down to his brother's heart.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that the dagger had somehow landed on the ground and not on his brother's heart. The shock in his eyes mirrored the look in Stefan's. Both of them knew it was impossible to disobey supernatural commands from Original vampires.

Bonnie stood by the garbage bins, her eyes closed and focused on Damon. It was pretty easy for her to control and take down a normal vampire but not an Original. Conveniently, she could take Damon down. After letting out a huge sigh of relief because she _almost _lost two of her most important friends, _s_he continued to focus her eyes on Damon.

Damon did not have the chance for a second attempt when the pain rocked his head, causing him to cry out in pain. It was the same pain Esther had inflicted on him at the Mikaelson's Ball.

The pain stopped when Kol reached Damon and kicked him. He turned towards Bonnie; he knew it had been her all along. He shot her a warning glare before turning back to Damon. He privately wished he had his baseball bat with him but it would have been silly to carry one around on a Ball night, as Elijah had pointed out.

Picking up a sharp wooden piece from the broken fence, he stabbed Damon with it, missing his heart by inches on purpose. In their weakened state, he could have a friendly chat with them.

"NO!" screamed Bonnie as he stabbed Damon, running towards Stefan.

"Bonnie, stay back," shouted a pained Damon through gritted teeth.

Reaching Stefan, she tried to pull the wooden object that was stuck inside. She cringed a little, never having done anything like it before. She had no time to do anything but cringe because Kol was already before her, a serious look on his face.

"You should listen to the vampire, witch."

He smacked her face hard, sending her reeling across the road. Bonnie landed on the pavement under the small circle of light under the lamppost. Stefan and Damon lay motionless, unable to save her. Kol zoomed towards her, smiling to himself because his initial plan to mess with the witch was not thwarted in the end.

He stood over Bonnie, merely smiling down at her. The edges of her white dress were ripped and torn due to the friction against the road. The holes in her dress exposed her scarlet red knees, caked with blood. She used both her arms to drag herself away – drag herself as far away as possible from the monster.

"Where are you going, love?" asked Kol softly, smiling.

She let out a weak whimper as she looked up to face him. He was smiling down at her but there was no kindness at all in his eyes. He could see her face too, bruised and fearful.

The fear marked almost the end of his fun. Kol knew how it always ended in his game usually. Humans were so predictable – they would be either nasty or coy at the start and when they knew what they had gotten themselves into, that was when they begged and cried. And that was when they would become too boring for him to play with.

Not too far away, he could hear Elijah and Klaus approaching and was a little puzzled. But he was sure he had picked up their voices.

"Please…," pleaded Bonnie weakly.

"Please what? Speak up, sweetheart, I can't hear you."

He knelt down to pick her up by the throat. As she thrashed and protested, his strong hand remained firm on her throat. Gradually, she fought and resisted less. He was killing her slowly through suffocation.

When Klaus and Elijah reached, Klaus saw with terror that Kol was in the midst of killing Bonnie Bennett. He could hear her heart beating but the beats were getting softer and slower.

"KOL, KNOCK IT OFF!" bellowed Klaus, his face red with rage.

Kol knew that his brothers had arrived but that did not stop him from strangling the witch. Before Elijah or Kol knew what he was doing, Klaus flew towards Kol who had no time to react. Klaus knocked Bonnie out of Kol's vice grip and locked his brother's head with one arm, breaking his neck in a split second. Kol's knees buckled and he crumpled to the ground immediately.

Elijah stood rooted to the spot, pale as a ghost. He was unsure of whether to be angry or be glad that Klaus had done that. Klaus was attending to Bonnie now, shaking her hard by the shoulders.

"Brother, she's still alive. I can hear her heart," said Elijah to Klaus.

Klaus stopped shaking her and waited impatiently. Elijah walked over towards Damon, who was still in pain. He removed the wooden object from Damon calmly and chucked it aside.

"Care to tell me why the two of you happen to be here?" asked Elijah coldly.

"Elena… we wanted Elena back," choked Damon.

Confused, Elijah knelt down to question Damon further. A million of questions besieged his head but he was not sure if he wanted to know the answers to them. However, both Klaus and Elijah could not stay there for too long, lest Kol would wake up and stir up trouble here again.

Bonnie did not wake up early enough so that Elijah and Klaus had to leave. Klaus was feeling rather annoyed that he would not be able to speak to Bonnie – he wanted to speak to her immediately and be the first one she would see when she awoke. But since Originals healed significantly faster than ordinary vampires, Elijah decided it was better to bring Kol home.

Finally, Klaus decided that they would leave him behind because he wanted to wait for Bonnie. Hesitantly, Elijah agreed. He lifted an unconscious Kol to a half-standing position and supporting him by the shoulder and arm, he zoomed home.

Bonnie awoke to a grinning Klaus, astonished. She could not comprehend why Klaus, the big bad wolf, would have saved her. But there it was before her, a kind and compassionate smile on his face.

Klaus might have appeared kind but he was also the most manipulative person Bonnie had ever met. Unknown to her, she was being a little taken in with his act.

"Don't thank me," said Klaus, shaking his head. "I don't need your gratitude, witch. I just need you on my side now – or by my side, whichever you prefer."

Bonnie stared up at him, a little irked.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded irritably.

"Alright, if you insist…," chirped Klaus, "You're welcome. But you're still my witch now, Bonnie. You owe it to me."

"What's going on –"

"You just do as I say," he cut her, forcing a smile although he disliked very much the little witch's unbelievable demands. "And that won't be very difficult, I trust, because if you're on my side, we're against the same person. We're talking about the one that attacked your mother, Bonnie."

She did not need to consider anything anymore. Nodding her head, she agreed and pledged allegiance to her enemy, swearing to avenge her mother.

* * *

" – YOU PUT ONE MORE TOE OUT OF LINE AND THAT'S FINAL! THE END! I WILL TAKE VERY SERIOUS ACTIONS! HOW HUMILITAING, SHAMEFUL – "

Esther was shrieking endlessly at her children when the family meeting finally commenced. Everyone was present – Klaus had returned and Kol had regained consciousness – including Abby Bennett who had been nursed back to health by Finn and Esther.

Esther was still in her dark blue gown because she had wasted no time in reprimanding her family, who was still in their tuxedos and dress.

Her face was purple with rage. It was not a very pleasant sight for the Mikaelson children. She was furious about the too many indiscreetness and misbehaviours – Klaus' announcement and attempt to murder, Kol's treatment of Bonnie Bennett, the fire incident and the Salvatores.

" – VERY UNBECOMING! TOO SHOCKED AT ALL YOUR BEHAVIOUR! ALL OF YOU! IF THIS IS THE KIND OF BEHAVIOUR YOU DISPLAY, I WILL NOT PUT UP WITH IT AND WILL NOT HESISTATE – "

Her yammering was never-ending. Klaus thought he would have been deaf by the end of the family meeting but in spite of that, he shuddered at the thought of Mikael being in Esther's place. His father was by no means a merciful man. He did not have exceptions when it concerned his children – only particularity.

Klaus was the child he especially picked on. Although Mikael was harsh in the past towards all of them except Rebekah and Henrik(not because they were supposedly an "exception", but because they were far too young to be at fault for anything at their age), Klaus was probably his least favourite child.

Esther had finally calmed down, to everyone's relief.

"Finn," addressed Esther coldly. "When I say, don't bring the girl, I mean don't bring the girl. Understand?"

"Understood," answered Finn quickly.

She was quick with scolding Finn because he was her favourite and she never liked being mad at him for too long.

"Kol, what were you thinking?" asked Esther, sounding tired. "Were you really going to kill that girl?"

Kol did not answer his mother. Frankly, there was no point arguing or reasoning that the witch had planned an ambush for him. He had never intended on killing her because of Nik's instructions, he had only wanted to mess with her and scare her. Even when she had pushed her luck too far, he was careful not to kill her by accident.

Esther let out a sigh of exasperation. "I'm washing my hands off this. Honey, you have to respect the life of humans too. Like Finn, for instance."

Finn blushed a little and could not help feeling pleased but Kol's eyes remained the same – it was hard to tell what he was feeling or thinking. But Rebekah, Klaus and Elijah understood even if he did not display any emotions. They knew how not being good enough felt.

"Niklaus?" said Esther sharply as she turned to Klaus. "The announcement you made? If it weren't for Finn, things would have been disastrous… Murdering is a sin! I don't want any more murdering from you… or any of you! I am so disappointed in you…"

Klaus curled his lip with resentment and defiance.

"That woman I was after put a_ll of us_ in danger tonight," retorted Klaus indignantly. "If it weren't for Finn, she would have been dead – and our family would have been safe forever!

Finn winced at Klaus' words but Esther was not anywhere near gentle with Klaus.

"Then _I_ will deal with her," replied Esther with a firm note of finality. "_I_ am responsible for this family's safety, Niklaus. You don't worry about that."

Klaus bit back his lip to stop himself from fighting back, although his temper was hardly in his control. Noticing Klaus, Rebekah's eyes fell to the ground. It was too heart-breaking a sight for her to watch.

"And the Salvatores today?" asked Esther not to anyone in particular. "What trouble were they looking to find?"

"Every kind, Mother," Elijah was the spokesperson for his siblings. "They were the ones who accompanied Bonnie Bennett to attack Kol. They entered this house for who knows what."

Although Elijah had an inkling that they had arrived looking for Elena just as they had when they were with Bonnie, Elijah carefully left that piece of information out because he did not find it comfortable mentioning Elena to his mother. Secretly, he knew it had to be his mother now who had invited her.

Elijah knew his mother well enough to know that she would not invite any Petrova without any devious ideas up her sleeve. For that, he was immensely worried for Elena's safety.

Esther merely nodded, giving her children a dismissive wave.

"Go, all of you. You may go."

Everyone except Finn began to leave the room. He stayed put beside his mother.

"Elijah, please stay," she requested.

Elijah knew it was coming and stopped the instant she spoke his name. Sighing to himself, he turned back and prepared himself for all the nagging his mother would throw at him.

"Tonight was nowhere near my expectations," she spoke icily, turning so that her back would face him as she removed her make up.

"Yes, Mother…," said Elijah calmly, suppressing his annoyance. "I will make your rules clear to them."

Finn was silent next to her watching Elijah who pretended as though he was invisible. Elijah did not want to look at his traitor of a brother whom he had once regarded his closest sibling ever.

"If they do not improve?" challenged Esther. "And Kol? Will he improve? He is too ill-mannered… If his father knew…"

"Yes, I will take care of Kol," replied Elijah reassuringly.

Esther's utterance of Mikael made Elijah feel uneasy – he did not like the idea of his father being around to scold his siblings. Things would have definitely been uglier, nastier and bloodier. His father was not a man of compassion who would allow a mistake to go tolerated.

"And do a good job of it," said Esther curtly.

'Will do."

Elijah was just about to exit the room when Esther called him.

"And Lijah?" said Esther loudly with her back facing him still. "Don't worry about Elena Gilbert."

Elijah froze for a moment. He had a strong urge to turn around and allow his agitation to get the better of him but he numbed himself and continued walking on as though he had not heard a word.

Elijah entered the living room to find that no one was there. Everyone must have retired to bed, he thought. He tried to imagine what each of them was doing in their own room. He did not think they could smile much after the depressing family meeting. All he knew was that once he got to his room, he would tuck into bed and write in his diary.

* * *

Back in Esther's room, Abby was trying very hard to remember the vivid details of the attack. The greatest damage felt was that she had lost her magic powers – all of them. Because of that, Esther reckoned without doubt that the attacker was a witch.

But why would a witch attack another witch?

It was just not right.

As Finn and Esther listened on, so far all Abby had told them was how she had heard voices while she was looking for Bonnie and how the voices had led her to an isolated part of the mansion. Whoever the attacker was knew his way around the Mikaelson Mansion well.

"Abby, tell me more," encouraged Esther kindly.

Abby took a deep breath and shut her eyes. She tried to relive the pain again, although it was the kind of pain no one would want to experience or remember.

"I don't really remember…," sighed Abby. "It wasn't a vampire… Couldn't have been. It was channeling me."

"Another witch," confirmed Esther to herself.

"I lost my powers…," sobbed Abby uncontrollably.

It was half-true that a witch's greatest sorrow was the day she could no longer call herself one. But Esther was unwilling to endure Abby's melancholy state.

"What was the message it sent, Abigail?"

Esther rarely used her full name unless she was lacking in patience. Due to the emergency situation Abby had gotten herself into, Esther was forced to drop all plans to meet Elena herself. She was going to have to find another way to meet the Petrova doppelganger and collect her blood.

The Pertovas were indeed something special. Esther had used Tatia's blood, the first Petrova that was a doppelganger, for the spell of Vampirism. The same doppelganger blood running through Elena Gilbert's veins was the key to undoing the spell Esther had performed a thousand years ago. Abby tried to stop sobbing although she was having awful hiccup attacks.

"Message…," said Abby slowly in between the sobs that caught her throat. "It said 'Ayana'… and 'Katherine'… Katherine wants them dead. The children. And Elena… She's somewhere here in a box on the third level."

After hearing her last statement, Esther leaned to whisper something into Finn's ear. Finn listened intently, nodded and flew out of the room. Within minutes, he zoomed back in with a large box that he had retrieved from the third floor.

"You can stop now, Abby," said Esther gently.

Abby opened her eyes, finally at peace and freed from the nightmarish pain. She saw the abstract look on Esther's face and could not comprehend what on Earth she was pondering over.

Esther was looking at the box that Finn was trying to wrench open to no avail. Obviously, the trapping of Elena Gilbert in the box had been the works of a witch. She looked at the box and decided it had to wait. She turned to Finn, a questioning look on her face.

"Her heart's still beating," answered Finn. "She's alright. It's okay to open before morning."

Esther nodded, hoping that she could attend to Elena as fast as she could right after she was done interrogating Abby Bennett.

"Katerina Petrova and another witch," said Esther quietly to herself, a distant look in her eyes.

"A Petrova…" thought Esther cognitively.

The room was noiseless suddenly.

The witch had to be a Bennett witch – because the message sent was 'Ayana'. But why would there be another Bennett witch around when Esther already had two by her side? Esther knew how the witches worked. They listened to their long-dead ancestors, did their biddings and protected those unprotected. Why would Ayana want another witch in Mystic Falls?

"It's a Bennett," spoke Esther, breaking the silence.

"But who?" asked Abby sadly, shocked.

"No," Esther shook her head, putting her hand on Finn's shoulder. "Not who. Why?"

But why would a _Bennett _witch attack another _Bennett _witch?

It certainly could not be right.


	13. Family Meeting,a certain brother is gone

**A/N: Sorry for the two-three weeks of silence. This chapter was hard to write! It took pretty long. And it is my longest chapter by far..:) School will be starting again in January and I really hate posting my chapters slowly because I know what it feels like to wait for an update when I'm a reader... but when school ends in June, I can speed up the updates!;)**

**A little hint... **

**Summary: The Mystic Falls gang are angry and they want Elena back. So they would do anything (especially Stefan and Damon) to get her back, even if they have to risk hurting one of the Originals.**

**Klaus is not doing too well with "fixing things" concerning Katerina who poses as a threat to his family. Neither is he handling his "brother" issues too well with Kol. Kol seems to have an attitude problem, always wanting to antagonize his brother... but he may surprise us in the future...;) **

**More on Elijah next chapter! **

The air in the warehouse was cold, musty and unclean. In the early dark morning, somewhere in snowy Mystic Falls, Katherine Pierce had her fangs pierced in the throat of a random office worker. She held him firmly and drank his blood until his body stopped struggling and lay motionless.

Johnny was sitting on top of a desk, his feet dangling off the table, observing them. His jade green eyes showed no expression. Katherine let the office worker, whose face was blotchy gray like a corpse, go but not before compelling him to forget everything. As soon as the man left, she looked at Johnny and shrugged.

"What?" asked Katherine, laughing. "I was just hungry."

"Yeah, I know," said Johnny colourlessly, his eyes showing no sign of approval or disapproval.

Katherine's laughter died out and her face grew serious.

"I thought you didn't make it," said Katherine.

Johnny nodded and tossed her a plastic bag full of blood. There was a whole collection of those that Katherine had stolen from the hospital and had stored at the warehouse.

"Drink this," he told her.

She rolled her eyes but caught the blood bag and began to drink it. Johnny smiled a little for the first time.

"He had you. That Klaus guy," explained Johnny. "I was out immediately after Abby Bennett's attack."

"Did you leave the message?"

"Yeah," said Johnny. "I also mentioned Elena Gilbert."

Katherine merely nodded, frowning to herself.

"Why was she there?" she asked aloud. "Her presence at the ball ruined everything. Could have meant our imminent doom."

"Cover was blown but at least we sent a message and a warning. It's a good start," reckoned Johnny.

Katherine put the blood bag down as she walked over to one of the dusty shelves in the warehouse. There were a few wooden daggers and a concoction brewing in a tiny maroon cauldron.

"What's cooking?" asked Katherine casually, inspecting the mixture.

Johnny looked up to see what she was referring to.

"Oh, something that could kill the Original hybrid maybe," answered Johnny. "I'm working on it. It's near impossible to kill him… Unless I know what exactly the witch used in the Vampirism spell."

"Which is why we need her," said Katherine simply. "Esther."

The plan last night had worked perfectly. Katherine was invited into the Mikaelson Mansion by an unassuming Finn, Johnny managed to slip into the house and absorb Abigail Bennett's powers and both escaped uninjured. Johnny had told her before that witches had visions from their ancestors and they received them in their sleep. Johnny had many visions of the Mikaelson Mansion so that the mansion was a familiar maze to him.

As planned also, Esther had gotten the message. Katherine had done a lot of homework during the five hundred years she spent running away from Klaus. In 1864, after she faked her death In Mystic Falls, she had more room to do her research and discovered more facts about the Original family than anyone could imagine.

She knew whom Esther was – a protective mother who had made her children immortal so that she would never lose them. But Johnny had explained that witches who disregarded their duties like Esther had done were disgraced among their sisters when they died. He had a strong feeling that the guilt the sisters blanketed over Esther was enough to turn the mother into a dutiful witch. There was indeed a rather good chance that she would want to right her wrong then.

All of a sudden, there was a loud sound of glass breaking followed by Stefan and Damon jumping in through the large hole from the broken glass window. Johnny's eyes narrowed and almost immediately, they were on the ground, hands over their heads as they groaned in anguish.

"Johnny, it's okay!" shouted Katherine. "Those are my people."

"Your people?" Johnny sounded perplexed.

"Yes, I sent them here," said Katherine in an urgent voice. "They're on our side too. Take down Klaus!"

Sighing, Johnny withdrew his powers reluctantly, his eyes never wavering away from the two of them. Damon glared at him before turning to Katherine who heaved a sigh of relief.

"You've gone too far this time, Kat," warned Damon angrily.

"Where's Elena?" asked Stefan more calmly than Damon.

"She's safe," purred Katherine, smiling at them.

Stefan abruptly banged the wall out of frustration but his actions did not intimidate Katherine or Johnny at all.

"SHE HASN'T COME BACK SINCE LAST NIGHT!" roared Stefan. "WE ALMOST DIED TRYING TO FIND OUT WHERE!"

Katherine looked at him without answering. The banging and shouting was peeving her to no end. Truthfully, she did not require the assistance of the Salvatores but since they were highly motivated individuals who wanted to take the Originals down, she could not lie that she hardly credited their courage.

"Johnny, excuse me. I'm going to take a walk with some friends," said Katherine before leaving the place with Stefan and Damon.

Johnny nodded, staring after them apprehensively. It was a witch's instinct to never trust a vampire. But a Bennett witch was slightly different. They trust no vampires except for one special kind.

The snow outside was thick enough to go skiing. As Katherine strolled around the park near the warehouse, Damon and Stefan began to tell her what they had gone through and their new plans to find Elena. Katherine listened intently before interjecting.

"She's not safe out there," said Stefan desperately. "She never came back after the ball. Klaus took her, didn't he? Don't lie to me, Katherine."

"No, he didn't," said Katherine, annoyed.

"You're such a liar," sighed Stefan.

Katherine shrugged, a carefree look on her face.

"You can call me whatever you want, Stefan," scoffed Katherine. "Here's the part where you're going to get really mad at me."

Stefan and Damon tensed up, unprepared to hear the bad news she had to offer. Katherine never delivered delightful information. And as far as Stefan knew, being involved in a plan with Katherine was never a brilliant idea because Katherine was not someone who was so apparently transparent. She loved to have the upper hand over them and was secretive because of that.

"Elena is with the Originals – No, wait!" She shouted at Stefan who was on the verge of leaping at her. "She's with the Originals, but she' safe – "

"How would you know that, huh?" yelled Stefan.

Damon was restraining his brother from attacking, listening carefully to Katherine. For the first time, he was the calmer out of the two.

"She's not with Klaus," lashed Katherine fiercely. "And she _is_ safe. I know that. But that's what I wanted to tell you. We're going to get her back."

The corners of her mouth curved into a sly smile and Stefan calmed down as Damon freed his arms.

"Here's the plan," said Katherine haughtily. "We do it my way."

"Your way?" mocked Damon, moving towards her. "And why is that so?"

Katherine did not step back. As the older vampire, she had faster reflexes and greater strength than him.

"Because you're going to need a witch, a bunch of strong vampires who feed on human blood," explained Katherine. "Maybe a vampire hunter. Anyone we could use. Even a werewolf. But I'd be careful with one. After that bite, Damon…"

Damon shuddered a little, reminiscing the ugly memory of the werewolf bite he had experienced a few months ago. What worsened the memory was that Stefan had saved him by sacrificing himself and handing himself over to Klaus. Not to mention that the king of hybrid's blood was the only cure to a fatal werewolf bite.

"No, werewolf is good," said Damon, trying to hide the discomfort in his voice.

"Good," smiled Katherine. "We can get start to work soon. Take an Original down, force Elena out of their hands."

Stefan gave thought to the plan but deep down, he was not very convinced that it would work.

"You're saying, grab one of them – say, Rebekah – and expect the rest to come?" asked Stefan in a tone that suggested that the absurd plan was bound to fail.

"That's what I'm saying," replied Katherine confidently. "Family above all. C'mon, you must have realized for yourself that the only thing that matters to Klaus is his family – "

"And his hybrids," Damon cut her, reminding them.

"Why would he be carrying them around in coffins with him wherever he goes? Come on, think," said Katherine scornfully. "Why not just throw them away into the sea like Elijah had said? Deep down, it's so obvious that they only care about each other."

Stefan nodded, finally reassured. Perhaps Katherine was right after all. He had forgotten how shrewd the Petrova could be.

"But why your way? We have vampire hunter Ricky, werewolf or should I say _hybrid _Tyler, a bunch of strong vampires – well, maybe we need to work on that strong starting with their diet," said Damon, teasing Stefan. "And of course, we have Miss I-hate-vampire witch Bonnie!"

Katherine looked at Damon, a playful light dancing in her eyes.

"Bonnie?" repeated Katherine in a deriding tone. "My witch is much better than that. He even took down Abigail."

"What?" spluttered Stefan, astonished. "Why did you take Bonnie's mum down?"

"Needed to send a message," said Katherine calmly, ignoring the shocked looks on their faces. "Besides, Johnny could use a little more power, couldn't he? Not saying he isn't strong, but when you absorb a witch's powers, of course you know what happens."

They were too stunned to speak and to be angry. Finally, after half-digesting that Johnny had been the mysterious attacker Bonnie had told them about, Damon found his voice.

"Where did you even get this witch?"

Katherine was wearing the mechanical secretive smile she had when she was about to reveal something big that she was proud of or happy about.

"Not too long ago," she said. "About a year ago. At that time, Klaus still thought I was dead and so did you two. Klaus was always having witches do the work for him. I was always on the run, but after he believed that I was dead, I watched over him more often. Then, I discovered a whole family of _Bennett _witches doing his bidding. They were serving him, one by one. The mother was a Bennett witch, the father was just an ordinary one, but combined together, their children must have been powerful.

"Slowly, they just died. In their risky missions which they were sent on by Klaus or an overuse of their magic powers which led to death. Everyone of them died."

Stefan and Damon were silent as they listened to her story, completely horrified. They dreaded the idea of a family of witches becoming slaves to Klaus – it was a terrifying, cruel idea.

"There was only one survivor," Katherine went on. "I took him before Klaus even got to him. He was only nine and the youngest of his family. He lost his two sisters, his mother, his father – his entire family. Like me. It was very recent. Klaus searched for him for a while because this witch is no ordinary witch. I even thought of using him as a trade off for my freedom but when I got to know him better, I found an even better way to earn my freedom.

"It was very recent – last year. Klaus stopped searching for him after a while because he did not like the lack of witches he had and equipped himself with witches who were less powerful. He had to do with second best since then."

The story was still not sinking in. But Stefan felt a new sense of hope that perhaps for once, they could defeat the Originals. Katherine looked at them, her secretive smile gone.

"You want to know why my way, Damon?"

Later on that day, at the break of dawn, Damon gathered Caroline, Tyler, Alaric, Bonnie, Matt and Jeremy at the Mystic Grill. Stefan introduced them to Katherine and Johnny. It was the most awkward conference they had ever held. But despite the weirdness, the reunion of the Bennetts was a call to celebrate. What Stefan had decided to blot out was the fact that Johnny was the mystifying attacker of Abigail Bennett.

Katherine was in charge for the better part of the meeting, assigning roles and designing tactics where her shrewdness came in handy. Everyone listened obediently, bonding over Tequilla.

"If you don't trust me, at least trust the plan," Katherine shrugged her shoulders casually at the skeptical faces. "As long as Johnny and Bonnie get it right, which I'm sure they will, you won't have a problem. And that's where you the vampire hunter comes in. Just remember who our ultimate target really is – Klaus."

They left Mystics Grill, more confident that they had ever been, a new spring in their steps. Although Stefan seemed least keen with the execution of the plan, Elena missing did serve a motivation once unfound. Dragging himself silently home with Damon who was just as quiet, Stefan was lost in a whirl of his own thoughts.

"Do you really think we can?" Damon broke the silence as soon as they had reached home.

Stefan shrugged and sighed, a weary look in his eyes.

"She's right, Damon," said Stefan, shaking his head. "Gotta believe her. She wants Klaus dead just as much as we do."

Elena found herself on a bed in a gloomy, empty room. There was nothing but the white bed she was resting on and a tiny windowsill that provided a shaft of light. She had no idea where she was but something about the walls of the room told her she was a prisoner. The last thing she remembered was Katherine's voice as she was being shoved into a box. A dreadful thought hit her that this was a cell that belonged to Katherine perhaps.

But unexpectedly, a man with long straight black hair walked in. His hair was unusually long for a man, falling over his ears. He saw that she was awake and introduced himself as Finn Mikaelson.

His last name made Elena turn wary suddenly. But he ensured her that he would not hurt her and left the room. Compared to Klaus, he was robust and had older-looking physical features.

Finn reentered with a woman who had long dark golden locks and black beady eyes. She was the person Elena had caught gazing at her during Elijah's announcement.

"Elena, what a pleasure," said Esther warmly, extending her hand.

Elena gave it an apprehensive glance before shaking it. Esther noticed her nervousness and smiled.

"I'm not a vampire like my children, Elena," she said soothingly. "I'm something else."

Elena tried to shake off her anxiety because Esther seemed like a good person and someone who would not hurt her. But what did not fail to strike Elena was that she was Klaus' mother.

"You're Klaus' mother?"

"Yes, so you know Niklaus," laughed Esther. "He is my son. I know, he killed me but I have forgiven him already."

That was the weirdest Elena had ever heard of.

"You remember the fourth coffin?" Esther continued.

"Yeah, the one that's supposed to…," Elena was unsure of whether to complete her sentence. "Kill Klaus."

Esther beamed as though she had successfully guided a student through a very difficult question.

"Yes, that one," said Esther calmly, her eyes fixed on Elena. "That was my coffin."

Elena's dark brown pupils dilated in bewilderment. Esther smiled kindly, noticing the shock in her eyes and told her that she would explain everything when they were alone outside the house where no one could hear them. With that, she left Elena with Finn but not before reminding them to come out for breakfast soon.

Elena looked up at Finn Mikaelson and studied him. He was Klaus' brother and most certainly an Original vampire from the ring that hung rusty on his index finger. She could not fathom why he would give aid to the destruction of his own brother.

"Why are you doing this?" she finally asked.

Their eyes met, Elena steeling herself to hold the gaze. But when she looked into those black eyes, she did not see the same cruelty or instability that swam around in Klaus' eyes.

"Because it's the right thing to do," answered Finn softly and most humbly.

Aside the alluring beauty, the kindness was reminiscent of the Princess Tatia that Finn had known when he was once human. He adored Tatia much in a way a loving brother would his younger sister and although he knew the cause of her death was his beloved mother, he had never begrudged her for it. He understood the need to reconcile the problem she pummeled Niklaus and Elijah into. They were both more deeply in love with her than any other admirer Tatia had and competed against each other often for her hand.

Elena asked no further questions when Finn signaled her to go downstairs for breakfast.

A round marble table was adorned with a variety of dishes – strawberries red and ripe, fresh blue blueberries, pancakes layered in maple syrup and a large china teapot that stood in the centre of the table.

"You can start first, you know!" Finn shouted from the kitchen, sticking his head at the doorway.

Nodding, Elena sat down at the table and began to help herself to the strawberries and a heavy pound of serving of pancakes. Just then, she heard noises from upstairs – people conversing – and footsteps getting louder.

Then she saw them coming down from the staircase and felt her stomach twisting into knots. How she dreaded to see Rebekah and Kol on an already abnormal morning.

When Elena was in her sight, her mouth dropped open and her eyes contracted to narrow slits of dark blue.

"What is she doing here!" demanded Rebekah heatedly.

Kol looked at Elena, a hint of puzzlement on his face. Elena stared at them, speechless, but before she could find a good enough answer, the kitchen flew open and Esther stepped out.

"Rebekah, dear, meet Elena," simpered Esther, looking from her daughter to the other girl. "She's a special guest today."

With Esther around, there was a sudden softening in Rebekah. She was no longer, to Elena's relief, seeming as though she wanted to rip her head off then and there.

"I know who she is," replied Rebekah in a hard voice.

But no more unhappiness was exchanged as Esther hurriedly left her children for the kitchen. Rebekah and Kol sat down, away from Elena, still trying to comprehend her presence. Elena kept her eyes firmly on the pancakes on her plate and ate them furiously, not wanting to meet any of their eyes. Rebekah scooped the last of the pancakes onto her plate, entirely ignoring Elena. Kol, however, took no notice of the food. The side of his chin rested against his right hand propped up by the elbow as he watched Elena, waiting patiently for her to look up, twirling his fork in his left hand.

Wearing a long tall white hat, Finn exited the kitchen with plate on one skilful hand, carrying a pile of stacked pancakes. He grinned enthusiastically when he saw the empty plate of pancakes on the table.

"Good morning, kids!" he chirped as he replaced the empty plate with the one balancing on his left hand. "Cooking up pancakes right now!"

Kol turned to him, giving him a quizzical look. "Why not something more nutritional?"

He nodded his head curtly at Elena, a cunning smile in his eyes. Rebekah's dark blue eyes lit up.

"Like this doppelganger?" she asked Finn hopefully, wearing her puppy eyes.

Elena's heart skipped a beat as she dropped her knife by accident, petrified. She was unable to pluck herself off the chair and run for it because something about Kol's unnerving eyes told her it was safer for her to stay still.

"Kol!" snapped Finn, incensed. "Eat your pancakes. Mother's in the kitchen and if you do anything stupid…"

He pointed to the kitchen threateningly, a sore look on his face. Kol was ready to retort (he never kept his mouth closed if something made him angry normally) but Finn turned away and returned to the kitchen after throwing at him a dirty look that said that he would not be part of any fiery match.

"Just leave him," sighed Rebekah irritably. "And you've already been told off once. Kol, don't be ridiculous – one more toe out of line and Mother would kill you."

Strangely, the sullen look on his face evaporated, taken over by a pleased smug expression. He had a queer tendency to take joy in some of Rebekah's admonishing – perhaps it was her way, however bizarre, to show him some appreciation.

Rebekah, on the other hand, found it rather annoying that he seemed to sneer at whatever she cautioned. Despite knowing Kol well enough, she still disliked his abilty to make light of the darkest of situations – although there were times when she was undeniably comforted by that same light he brought with him.

Kol turned to face Elena again in the same position, head on fist supported by elbow.

"You were quite unpleasant to me the other night," remarked Kol, smirking at her.

His words caught her by surprise because she looked up, a lost look on her face that grew hot red. He gave her his mechanical relaxed predatory smile when their eyes met. Immediately, she turned her eyes back down and the moment thankfully passed. Rebekah, with her infallible senses, noticed the brief exchange and scoffed loudly.

"The other night?" repeated Rebekah loftily. "It's not a wonder why Nik broke your neck."

But Kol remained shamelessly blithe as he leaned back, sipping a cup of English tea. This was definitely more regrettable than perhaps being Katherine's captive, Elena told herself gravely.

Just then, footsteps pounded louder and louder from upstairs and Elena jolted out of consternation. Even a pin drop could cause distress. A man dressed in elegant clothes as though heading to work with dark blonde hair combed back neatly came down – it was Elijah. He seemed to be in deep thought that he did not notice the new guest.

"I thought I saw Finn from my window," thought Elijah aloud.

As he turned to walk in the direction of the dining table, he was stunned for a few seconds to see the brunette at his family's dining table. The stupor upon his face reflected onto hers too and there was no denying the pinch of relief and comfort.

"Yes, he just left!" shouted Esther loudly from the kitchen but none of the words were registered by Elijah's mind. "Getting more eggs for more pancakes!"

He stared at her in thin disbelief before giving Rebekah and Kol a furtive, quizzical look, to which Kol responded with a shrug in his eyes and Rebekah held back an eye roll. Elijah stood next to Kol, tapping the edge of the table as he pondered to himself and the awkward silence filled the air.

"Um…," began Elijah. "How did you get here?"

"I – I don't know," answered Elena, her anxiety weaking.

For some unperceived reason, she knew herself to be safe the minute Elijah had walked in. Just his presence secured and ensured her safety. Before Elijah could get any more words out of his mouth, the kitchen door flew open.

"Oh, Lijah, meet Elena Gilbert! You've met, I presume," introduced Esther.

Elijah stared at his mother, one brow arched upwards, but his mother smiled ignorantly back at him. Breaking the tension, he walked past the dining table, past his mother and into the kitchen. Sighing softly to himself and having a rather burning desire to thump his head against the metallic fridge door, he opened it and grabbed the glass jug full of blood.

But then, he jerked a little, almost dropping the jug, as though he had just remembered something. Turning to peer at Elena through the doorway, he sighed again and glared at the blood jug before putting it back down. He grabbed the jug of plain milk instead and left the kitchen with it.

Esther was still standing at the doorway, talking to Elena and beaming at her children who were eating at the same time. As Elijah sat down next to Kol, Esther turned to him.

"Where is Niklaus anyway?" asked Esther, her brows locked into a frown.

"Sleeping probably," answered Elijah casually as he scooped a large spoonful of blueberries onto his plate.

Esther shook her head, appearing somewhat dismayed. Elena seemed to have caught it because she turned to Elena, giving her a warm-hearted smile.

"I really do apologise for my son, Elena," said Esther, laughing a little. "He can be a true lazy bum sometimes."

Elijah almost choked on his blueberry out of irritation. He would have spluttered there and then at his mother's hypocrisy but it was not like him to blow up all of a sudden. It was something Klaus would have done but Elijah was finding it difficult to control the overpowering surge of peevishness that ran through him.

Something about his mother and her hospitality towards Elena mystified him and he was going to find out with or without Klaus. He liked to think that most of his worry stemmed from the fact that his mother was perhaps being deceitful and not because of his great concern for the doppelganger.

He took a brief look at the deep level of snow from the large square glass window as he bit on his strawberry and chewed.

Suddenly, an idea sparked.

His black eyes brightened as he looked up at everyone at the table, raising both his arms.

"Hey… let's go snowboarding today," announced Elijah, cupping the air with his hands. "We should. We haven't done that in… _ages. _And Elena, you should definitely come – get to know us a little better."

Instantly, Kol sat up straight on his chair, ready to agree but Rebekah turned and gave the staircase a glance as though hoping Klaus would come down soon. Elena seemed to be contemplating but the look on her face told Elijah she was not eager at all.

"But your mum said I can't go out," rejected a stammering Elena.

Elijah was not going to back down so easily – not when his mother was acting as a trickster under his nose.

"Well, I'm sure my mother will not mind," responded Elijah confidently, standing up.

Kol stood up too, pushing his chair backwards, a playful smile pulling the corners of his mouth.

"That's right, Mother need not know," nodded Kol enthusiastically, a rush of his usual excitement at breaking 'the rules' in his sly smile.

Elijah almost let out a protest, recognizing the jeopardous air his brother had when he behaved in that manner. It was almost certain he would start carrying out heinous plans like a loose canon. Remembering his mother's warnings, Elijah shuddered – but he knew he had to keep his siblings in check. It was unfortunately his responsibility to honour as the eldest and most sensible.

But the kitchen door burst open and out rushed Esther, a speculative look across her face. With eyes of an eagle that was about to pounce on its prey, she scrutinized each face mindfully as the children returned her inspection with blank, clueless faces.

"What's going on?" demanded Esther in a high, knifelike voice.

"Nothing," interjected Rebekah, standing up to face her mother.

Kol gave her an apologetic glance for trying to cover up for them but Elijah pulled up his collar as he cleared his throat, glowering at his mother. Then his eyes turned cloudy and the anger was unseeable.

"We're bringing our special guest out to snowboard," said Elijah calmly, although his eyes were burning with the intensity of a hissing flame. "Is there going to be a… problem?"

The tone he used shocked Elena just as much as it shocked Esther. It was hard to imagine that Elijah could be a fierce, firm nail to his own mother given his discreet demeanour. What Esther exhibited was more than shock, however – there was rage and vexation in her eyes that was frightening.

Everyone could see the foam at her mouth and waited for some kind of judgement or ruling that she would call upon. Even Elijah stood by, pausing for her verdict, his insides coiled and twisted like vines.

But the anger dissipated and collapsed to nothingness.

"Of course not," breathed Esther, giving Elijah a smile that did not reach her eyes that stood out empty. "Go on, go on, you lot. I really should wake Niklaus, shouldn't I? He'd be missing some fun."

She rambled on and on in seemingly high spirits, as though the tension that had enveloped them had never taken place at all. As her words droned on, Elena gathered her thoughts and calculated quickly whether it was indeed going to be safe going on this snowboarding adventure. She could not help giving Elijah's younger sibling fleeting looks because from what she could clearly tell, he was not exactly an unpretentious or unassuming person – and he was likely to be more than open about that.

Esther went on harping about how worried she felt as Finn was taking far much longer than he should, while Rebekah tossed at the brothers the snowboarding equipments. After they finished putting on their coats and were standing at the front doorway waiting uninterestedly for Esther to be done, Esther began prattling about what a sluggish boy Klaus was.

"He really does need a spanking, if I could just – "

"Why do you so often look at me?" Kol interrupted his mother out of the blue.

Leaning against the open door, he was looking at Elena with a superior attitude, his dark questioning eyebrows curved upwards with pleasant amusement. Shell-shocked, Elena stumbled on the words she could offer, her face turning into the shades of a red beetroot.

Kol, on the other hand, was finding it rather fascinating and savory that he could easily make the girl so uncomfortable around him. He had to, however, evade the baleful and harrowing glares from Elijah and Mother who were breathing down his neck.

Oblivious to Kol and Rebekah, Mother gave Elijah a dirty look – an ominous, monitory stare that screamed an angry threatening warning. Elijah heeded the warning silently and tugged Elena by the hand, indicating to her to walk on outside. Throwing Elena a contemptuous sneer, Rebekah turned to Kol with a sardonic smile.

"Can't you tell, idiot?" mocked Rebekah, glancing at Elena briefly with a vile look. "She just can't w_ait _to drag you in her ensnare!"

_Just like Nik and Elijah! _The deep-seated hatred blasted out a scream that she could barely contain. Regardless of the fact that she knew that Kol could not and would not be attracted to Elena, the malice she had hurled arose from the neglect she faced from Nik who had detached himself from everyone but his doppelganger to date.

"Is that what she's been doing? I hadn't noticed," smirked Kol smugly.

"So full of yourself, aren't you?" shot back Rebekah sassily, rolling her eyes.

Elijah yanked Elena's hand harder, passing her an alarmed look. The firm pull had her attention grabbed as she stood up and began walking out with him. They said their goodbyes cheerfully to Esther before walking off. Elijah made sure he walked closely to the Petrova and preferred to render himself a protector or a guardian although he was usually far from it. Luckily, Kol and Rebekah were not too near, walking at the back, carrying along their usual banter.

At the snowboarding mountain site that was always open during Winter, Elena who had no equipment of her own or had never gone snowboarding had to go to the renting store. As Elijah stood outside waiting for her, he watched his younger siblings from the distance through the dark, foggy cold air.

He saw Rebekah approaching from afar.

When she was finally in close proximity, he could visibly see the troubled look blemishing her face.

"Don't you think it's been some time since we had breakfast?" asked Rebekah in what was supposed to sound like a spontaneous voice.

But Elijah was able to grasp the fragility of the voice and conjectured what sort of ulterior motive his sister could possibly be bearing. The only thing that came to his mind was the horrible idea that Rebekah might be _hungry _for real. In order to avoid any potential ugly scenario, he was going to have to tread carefully.

"Yes…," said Elijah slowly. "Why?"

He gave her an odd look, waiting for her to spill whatever she was concealing from him. She appeared tongue-tied, as though unsure of how to communicate her thoughts to him.

"Well, I just thought he'd be awake by now," said Rebekah simply at last.

The suspicions within him faltered. He had to give himself a quick shake and reminder that he was not going to be so smoothly trapped in the vortex of emotions that could cause him unimaginable damage. Disdainfully, he had already learnt a very long time ago that his sister could be nothing more than a girl whose heart was a turmoil of feelings – and he had been told several times by Niklaus that he would do better to stay far from it but he found that he could not pluck himself off. He was not capable of such indifference, at least not towards his family.

His heart splintered at the forlornness in her dark blue eyes. But he found something reassuring to say, for fear that they would feel too much. Feeling too much never turned out very pretty for vampires most of the time.

"It could be a werewolf behaviour," supposed Elijah although he himself did not sound too convinced.

Although she hardly found his avouchment believable, she wanted very much to count on it. In the midst of snowboarding down the mountain coupled with several tricks that was easy for a vampire like her to master, she felt awful.

She could not clean her face of the grim, tight smile solidly embedded. His absence rang through louder than a bomb explosion and far more terrifying. Her vicious, hostile feelings towards him simply could not last; she was angry with him for what he had done – killing their own mother, daggering their family – but that was as far as her anger went. It was simply not enough.

After more than a dozen of times of diving down the mountain with the snowboard, she rested by a tall, brown tree alone. Being alone had its own serenity.

In a flash, a hard white ball of snow rocked the side of her arm.

POW!

"HEY!" she screamed out of frustration.

She did not have to scan around to know that it was her meddlesome of a brother Kol. She spotted him anyway, not in hiding and walking towards her. Bunching a pile of snow into a ball in her fist, she figured that she had lost her head.

She flung the snowball at him as hard as she could – she saw the baffled look on his face before he evaded it swiftly.

"Wait! I've got a brilliant idea!" started Kol, as he approached her more carefully, hands raised as though asking for mercy.

She threw another one, this time aiming for his head. He ducked and the hit missed him by inches.

"Listen to your big brother!" coaxed Kol loudly in his sweet-talk voice.

She sent yet another snowball hurtling towards him which he sketchily avoided. He zoomed up towards her using his vampire speed as she pulled the plug off the one-sided snowball fight.

"We're partners in crime, right?" asked Kol adamantly.

His head inclined and his eyebrows wagging doggedly, the badgering dumbbell did live up to his saccharine reputation – partly why it proved to be difficult to turn away even the unintelligent, feeble-minded brother he was. There were times when Rebekah's only companion was him and those were the times when she had fun, playing practical jokes on Elijah and Nik. She realized there had been no reason for her to get mad at him and felt slightly sorry foreventing it all out on him.

"I'm listening," said Rebekah imperiously.

"Let's prank Nik – I take his witch, you take his doppelganger," said Kol, a sneaky smile on his face.

He gave her a grin from the corner of his eyes, his face flooded with liveliness of one who was about to do something golden off his to-do list.

"You're not joking?" asked Rebekah, almost spluttering, in a tone of disbelief.

Turning to face her directly, his dark eyes swam with a look she could hardly credit as anything sensible. And she knew he had meant it.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" grinned Kol like a reckless fool.

Rebekah shook her head vehemently.

"No – Nik would kill you if you pull off something like that!" Rebekah's voice dropped to a low hiss. "And if Nik doesn't, Mother would."

But the sanguine mood would not flicker because Kol was as resolute as the sun in rising every morning.

"And that's why I need _you_" countered Kol cleverly with his most persuasive pitch.

"And I already said no," said Rebekah fiercely.

"Right," nodded Kol, his eyes manifesting the barest trace of disappointment but otherwise, he was unflustered by her rejection.

Consequently, she was of two minds, but the more dominant one told her she could not make things any harder than it was already for Niklaus. But she could not help feeling a little distraught.

"I just think we shouldn't," explained Rebekah in a tired voice. "Not when there's a crazy loose doppelganger trying to kill us – when Nik and Elijah are trying to fix everything they can."

Kol shrugged, apparently apathetic and not taking pains to allow for the excuse to get to him.

"You just look like you could use a bit of fun," said Kol bluntly.

The non-fluctuating gleam in his eyes told her he was still going to carry out his diabolical plans – with or without her. It was truly exasperating. But instead of burning her, his matter-of-fact words jolted her.

"So you do care about your sister,_" _challenged Rebekah with a satiric smile.

Kol was easily annoyed when people tried to tell him that he cared about something after all as though it was a weakness he could not bring himself to acknowledge.

"I did say I would do anything for you," said Kol coolly, returning her smile.

Rolling her eyes at his wink, Rebekah turned away, ready to dip down the snow mountain again. As overly sweet and conceited he was, he did in his own way let her know that he was the staunch brother she had if needed be. It was in his own irksome and vexing manner of telling her.

"Actually, I could use some fun company," said Rebekah intentionally, with a thoughtful look on her face. "Starting with some _very _cool people – but… you're not exactly the coolest person around."

With that, she pushed off the mountain and went straight down on her snowboard, the cold air breezing past her, flapping against her face and hair – but not before seeing the off-guard disorientation in his eyes and his mouth agape.

"I AM THE COOLEST!" he shouted after her.

Where Niklaus had been all morning was a big fat question mark. He had not been in his room asleep, locked from inside, which made it safe for his family to assume he was fast asleep like a baby. Leaving through the window was an easy feat for him without getting caught red-handed.

From what he had seen last night at the ball, he had a sneaking suspicion that his mother was up to nothing good, inviting Elena being one of it. The first person that came to his mind was of course, Finn, the apple-in-the-eye son.

Finn had been strolling in the supermarket, searching for eggs when all of a sudden, he saw his younger brother Klaus standing right in front of the shelf of eggs. It was hard to discern the ambiguous expression on his face.

"Niklaus, out of my way," snapped Finn rudely.

But in the blink of an eye, Finn's head was smashed against the cartons of eggs on the shelf by a hand. He yelped out of astonishment as eggs came crashing and breaking onto the floor.

"Don't try fight off the hand," whispered Klaus calmly. "I'm a hybrid, so I'm stronger than you too."

Finn did not struggle but his eyes screamed utmost defiance.

"What do you want?" he snarled.

Klaus leaned closer to him so that their eyes met, sea green and black.

"The truth, Finn," said Klaus gently. "I just want the truth. Is it too much to ask of you, my brother? I know you and Mother are keeping something away from me."

Finn's eyes revealed nothing but pure loathing.

"You can't compel me," growled Finn, staring at Klaus in the eye.

Klaus' lips curled with hatred and he bit back the urge to shove Finn's head further into the shelf right into the wall.

"No," conceded Klaus, "but I can make you tell me."

"Not in a million years, Niklaus!" groaned Finn, who made wheezing sounds of pain. "I am hiding nothing that you need know!"

A free hand came straight up to Finn's face, holding a large egg –

And it splat right on his forehead and went dripping down his eyes, nose, mouth and chin. Klaus' face was red with fury.

"You will tell me!" commanded Klaus. "Or another one hatches over your hair!"

Finn wriggled a little, feeling uncomfortable with the yolk and egg whites drowning his face. He still could not move his head much for Klaus kept his grip over his head firm.

He sighed and would have shook his head too if it had not been under Klaus' tight steel-like clamp.

"No," persisted Finn in a brave voice. "I don't owe you anything."

As much as he hated his older brother, the words left him buffeted. His claws unsheathed buried themselves into Finn's scalp. Finn cawed angrily, his eyes shut tightly in pain.

"You're my brother – "

"I don't owe you anything!" thundered Finn as blood droplets trickled down his hair to his sideburns. "And you are not even my real brother."

One of his dangerous heartstrings was slashed and ripped off – the one that allowed his temper to turn topsy-turvy. He felt himself raise his free hand and snag Finn's neck with his retracted claws. Before Finn could even scream in pain, he banged his head against the shelf of eggs one last time and fell to the ground, lying motionlessly.

Klaus did not bother himself to clean up the mess he had made and bring Finn back home. Too infuriated at the moment, he left in a huff, an ugly dark look pulling his face.

They were home at last but Elijah found that he had not gotten anything quite done – Elena had kept mum the entire time and even when he compelled her to tell him what Esther might be devising (not forgetting to compel her to forget that he had compelled her), the girl seemed only mucked up.

They had also figured out that Klaus was not asleep after all in his room after realizing his door was still locked. Kol did the honours of breaking the door apart, but it was an unceremonious act that called for some repercussions.

Esther was also not home and they had not a clue of her whereabouts.

All they did for now was sit around while they awaited Klaus' return. Well, that was not exactly all that they did – Kol was urging Rebekah and Elijah to play baseball with him at the field right outside the house but the court was completely covered in snow, to his disappointment. And since Esther had dictated that they were not going to damage any property in the mansion, under Elijah's strict supervision, they were not allowed to play inside as well.

That left them to doing nothing, except entering their mother's room secretly without Elijah who was obviously unaware and conversing with Elena.

Afterwards, Klaus came barging into the house like a china bull. He seemed unhinged about something that Elijah had to consider whether it was the right time to inform his brother of his suspicions. Then, a roar erupted from the corridor on the second level.

"WHERE THE HELL IS THE DOOR!"

Rebekah and Kol, who had realized that Klaus was back from their good senses of hearing, sped out of the room to where Klaus stood, glowering at the giant gap where his door should have stood. Elijah reached after them, looking crabby.

"Niklaus, no cussing in the house!" scolded Elijah.

Klaus ignored him, turning to face all three siblings, his blue green eyes caustic and inflamed, and his face reddened by rage. He took a step towards them, staring banefully.

"Which one of you?" he exploded.

He was astounded momentarily when he heard a snicker from Kol.

"Who else?" asked Kol without a hint of fear, sounding sedated.

Klaus casted a venomous look at Kol before moving forward to push him hard by the shoulders, to which Kol retaliated by pushing him back forecefully. With all his strength, he shoved Kol's shoulders again noxiously and felt no regret that Kol was bullishly knocked off-balance onto the ground.

Before Klaus could throw a few more bloody blows, Elijah intervened, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him away from the rest.

"Look, I told him to," rasped Elijah crisply.

"He had it coming, that fool," spewed Klaus, glaring at Elijah.

He wrested his arm off Elijah's, trying his best to cool himself down. It was just unfortunate that his dangerous mood spawned by Finn had been tipped off. He also hardly regretted his violent actions, even when it was a spur of the moment – he reckoned if he were remorseful for a fatter fraction of his life, it would be too difficult to move on.

Elijah was obviously exceedingly unhappy with him but he did not say much for he did not want to aggravate his hybrid brother. When asked where he was, Klaus was completely honest about it. It did not shock Elijah; Klaus never came across as a liar because he never had a need to lie. No one could defy him even if what he did was wrong.

Oh, but there was one lie.

He had killed Mother and had kept it away from them only because he did not want his brothers and sister to hate him and leave him all alone by himself for the rest of eternity. It was Niklaus. One would have thought that he was fearless, frightened by nothing, but he was afraid. And nothing was more real.

Elijah nodded his head in agreement after Klaus finished talking.

"You are right. We are being kept in the dark from who knows what," announced Elijah. "And we need a family meeting before Mother gets home."

Although Rebekah and Kol hardly got the details about Finn's possible involvement in something crooked, they knew that Elijah and Klaus had summoned the family meeting for an urgent reason. Nevertheless, it did not bridle Kol from feeling reproachful or antagonized after being rubbed the wrong way. He was less than willing to cooperate with Elijah and Klaus. However, he did have respect for Elijah who was more of a father figure to him than Mikael would ever be.

Everyone was used to Klaus' nasty temper but Rebekah was galled that he had the audacity to invoke a family meeting after bailing out on them in the morning. Elena's untimely presence only succeeded in compounding his cranky mood.

They sat in the living room by the fireplace, a bottle of champagne untouched on the glass table. Elijah took a look at everyone including Elena who was invisible to the rest, looking chiefly.

"Family meeting," declared Elijah.

Everyone was mostly quiet – Klaus seemed impatient as though the meeting was going too slowly for him although it had just commenced, Kol had a long face and Rebekah was imploding with curiosity to know what was so crucial.

"Where's Finn?' wondered Rebekah.

"Not here," answered Klaus nonchalantly.

Elijah scowled at Klaus who, in his well-thought-out opinion, should have been more tactful.

"He's not coming. Probably with mother," lied Elijah smoothly, cagey enough to convince himself it was the truth so that even Rebekah could not sense the white lie.

Kol rolled his eyes, letting out a bitter chortle.

_"Of course_ he's with mother," insulted Kol.

Elijah threw at him a dirty look to put an end to his unnecessary slurring and gibing. As expected, it did not intimidate him but he was silent after that.

"But that's not what we're here to discuss," sighed Elijah.

But there was far too much angst Klaus was experiencing that he had to kick the meeting up a notch.

"Let's begin, shall we?" he took charge of the meeting, cutting Elijah before he could even say something. "The recent fire incident you saw – that was the works of one of my marvelous doppelgangers – of course, not this one."

He nodded at Elena curtly, who shifted uneasily at his mention. Klaus' pause allowed Elijah to finally speak.

"You've met her before," Elijah reminded Kol and Rebekah. "Katerina."

Shock crossed Rebekah's face – how could Katerina still exist after her death in Mystic Falls in 1864?

She turned to Klaus. "The one who double crossed you? She's alive?"

Klaus beamed, pleased that she had asked something red-letter.

"She was never dead," explained Klaus, smiling. "She faked her death. Quite intelligent, I say. But Elijah and I found out a few months ago. So maybe, not intelligent enough."

"But she's on the run. Why would she come back?" questioned Kol, nonplussed.

"Revenge," answered Elijah and his tone was acidic. "Niklaus killed her family in 1500."

He did not glare or stare at Klaus but Klaus could feel the shame and self-abasement radiating from Elijah. Rebekah and Kol were still coming to terms with the news to have noticed Elijah's little shift in mood.

"And you think she can do that?" asked Rebekah egoistically.

Elijah could tell that neither Kol nor Rebekah could see the threat that faced them – and it was fair, because they did not yet know of Mother's own preoccupations.

"She has a witch on her side, I believe. A powerful one," confirmed Elijah seriously.

"Which is why we equip ourselves with our own witch," added Klaus in a dogmatic voice.

A loud movement caused all heads to turn – Elena straightened herself up, craning her neck to look at Klaus from the other end of the sofa where she was isolated. There was a plea in those hazel doe-like eyes.

"Klaus, don't get Bonnie involved please," implored her.

Elijah felt something jelly inside him but Klaus laughed mirthlessly before shooting a death glare at her.

"And what makes you think I'll listen to you?" he snorted, regarding her with sheer indifference.

Elijah was the only one who was aghast but he remained calm for the most part.

"Niklaus," he said with a touch of disapproval.

His evident upset state rankled Rebekah who had developed an innate hatred for Elena for some time; Elena was a chip on the shoulder to her – a loathing that was passed on from one doppelganger to the next. Her face had turned sour the minute Elijah was in the picture.

"Stop it, Elijah," sighed Rebekah in a clipped tone.

Her chiding struck him because he had not expected his feelings to be so apparent. It almost made him feel embarrassed.

"You know what, let's call this off. Family meeting over," huffed Elijah, trying to suppress the awkward emotions bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

Everyone seemed momentarily stunned and most probably perplexed at why Elijah had suddenly called the meeting off and what it was that had driven him to the wall. The looks on their faces prominently indicated that their eldest brother was mad.

"Let's just play a game or watch some movies together," said Elijah quickly while still using his most rational tone that showed that he was still in command. "We have to stop this."

Rebekah looked none too happy with his high-strung decision – even though he was speaking as though he had everything under controlled, it was very glaring that her words had hit something sensitive and he was not handling it too well. She was willing to go further to see the extent of his feelings.

"Good," chirped Rebekah. "I want to play rip the doppelganger's head off. Who's with me!"

Elijah threw her a look of despair.

"Gladly!" volunteered Kol, beaming at his sister appreciatively.

Elena was too frightened to move and dash for the door – clearly, she was no match for Kol and Rebekah even if she were a sprinter. Elijah looked as though he would have slapped his palm against his forehead, too flabbergasted at his siblings. He was certainly getting angry but it was a good thing he was not as bad-tempered as Mikael or Niklaus in some cases.

"No one is ripping anyone's head off!" shouted Klaus angrily.

Conclusively, he would protect Elena and guard her from any harm because she was _his _doppelganger, the key blood-bag to turning more werewolves into hybrids. Rebekah rolled her eyes with distaste but did not argue with him because it would morph into a pointless argument. She knew that much from experience.

"Want to go first?" crooned Kol gleefully to Klaus, a heavy taunt in his voice, his head cocked sideways in a mocking gesture.

Klaus bared his fangs at his brother and for a split second, his eyes turned gold and something inside him tempted to give Kol a taste of werewolf venom – even Original vampires were not spared the wrath of the toxin if it did not kill them. But Kol did not seem to see the seriousness of the glare.

"For the sake of everyone's sanity, please start behaving like adults!" bellowed Elijah vehemently. "Like senior citizens or a thousand year old people even."

Fortunately, Klaus turned his attention to Elijah, his eyes sea green again although the chagrin was still fresh in them.

"Fine," muttered Rebekah.

She looked disinterested and unbothered suddenly. Kol noticed it but even he could not fathom Rebekah's change in mood. Elijah, on the other hand, gathered enough to know that he had said something that had turned her off.

"This is boring me," sighed Kol, shaking his head. Then he gave Elijah a grin and a pat on the shoulder as he got up and headed for the door. "Maybe next time, Daddy Lijah."

At Kol's playful teasing, Elijah had an annoyed look on his face. He was the eldest and most authoritative and yet even his youngest brother would not take him seriously. Perhaps he was too kind, he thought. But that was what had earned him respect in the first place. How ironical.

Just as Kol reached the door, Klaus flew from where he was to stand right in front of Kol, obstructing his path. They were only inches apart and everyone could see that Kol was the taller of the two. Klaus did not bother to disguise the seething rage etched on the lines over his face.

"You're not walking out on this family," hissed Klaus.

The tension in the room was suffocating, as though all the air had been sucked out. No one made a move to stop them because it could elevate the situation dramatically. Kol's dark eyes were narrowed and hard, not like they had been a while ago when he was smiling at Elijah.

"Well, if it isn't the pot calling the kettle black," jeered Kol coldly, with full intent to cause hurt.

Klaus could have sworn he would have mauled and pounded his rude, cheeky brother until he wished he were dead. But he remained still, giving Kol one final chance as well as a deathly glare that sent out threats.

"Sit down, _Kol,"_ Klaus spoke in a tone which clearly told Kol that he was being a nuisance, a tone that was filled with anger and even hatred.

The trepidation loosed upon the room was at its climax now – the order had been given and Kol's choice was going to be either for the better or for the worse. Everyone, including Klaus, saw the utter defiance in those dark eyes. Klaus was certain, although he was afraid of it that Kol was going to disobey him yet again. He should have learnt from experience that it was not a very wise move.

But they were all wrong. Kol held his stare, the bitterness in his eyes naked, then he moved back and stood against the side of the sofa, a sulky look on his face. Knowing Kol, however, the next time they stole a glance at him, his face had regained its passiveness.

Klaus had returned to where he had sat, still heaving with fury. They had a fixed, steel-like gaze on each other; Klaus' face screaming silently of impending doom, Kol's one cold-heartedly laid-back with a hint of ill will.

Elijah knew at once his leadership was in order.

"Let's just go with movies. No games," decided Elijah. "And would you two kindly take your eyes off each other? Could mistake it for a couple argument, you know."

His remark did succeed in inspiring repulsion all over the faces of both. Very quickly, Klaus had snapped his head towards Elijah, as though he had just been reminded of what the meeting was originally to address.

"Let's go straight to the point," said Klaus, raising a hand to silence Elijah who attempted to butt in. "I am on this and if any of you make so much a blunder, I will not be the nice big brother."

When he was done speaking, Elijah raised his eyebrows with incredulity.

"Niklaus, that was not our point," he chimed in calmly but with a judgemental air.

"It was _my _point," affirmed Klaus without shame.

"Could you repeat it again?" asked Kol who was next to Elijah, leaning against the sofa. "Because I don't recall you ever being nice, Nik."

Klaus leapt up, furious but Elijah had turned to scowl at Kol, a disapproving look on his face.

"Kol!" chastened Elijah.

Fortunately, thanks to Elijah's berating, Kol toned down and seemed to finally get off Klaus' back for once. But Klaus had had enough. He was tired of having to tolerate his brother's absurd attitude. He wanted so badly to show him who was in charge and what he was capable of doing.

"How many times do I beat you up before you learn when not to talk?" snarled Klaus from where he stood.

It was obvious that he had tweaked a nerve because Kol's eyes darkened if it were possible and contracted to narrow slits of jet-black. It was as though the words had unknowingly opened a wound fresh and reawakened memories that should not be left stirring.

"You sounded better the last time," sneered Kol, his resentment undisguised. "Aren't you supposed to be an expert at terrorizing?"

Klaus stepped towards him, making sure to keep a distance between them however. He could feel his temper rising, threatening to take over him. But at that moment, everything was forgotten – that Kol was his brother, that it was supposed to be a family discussion. The only thing remembered was a hundred years ago.

A deep sore memory.

"You want your life to be hell, Kol? I can make your life hell if that's what you want," he growled menacingly.

"You already do, Nik. Next threat, please," said Kol simply, a dispassionate, indifferent look in his eyes.

Klaus lunged himself at him but was slammed in the process by Elijah who had soared into the air, yelling "NOOOOO!". Both crashed to the floor and it was a matter of reaction timing on who would have the upper hand on the other. Apparently, Klaus had been rather shocked by his elder brother's outburst so that Elijah had managed to grab his brother roughly by the collar.

Before the millisecond where Klaus would throw Elijah aside could pass, there was a clicking sound as the front door opened. Esther stood at the doorway, aghast.

Elijah immediately released Niklaus' collar but not before Esther's eyes had seen it.

"What's going on?" Esther demanded.

Her eyes swerved to Elena and Elijah realized that she was not only referring to him and Niklaus, but also about everything else that had to do with Elena and possibly the missing Finn.

"We were just… chit chatting," answered Rebekah awkwardly, as usual covering up for her brothers.

The family meeting obviously failed but Elijah supposed that there would be another chance to tell his siblings about Mother and Finn. The chance might never arise again in a long time.

When Mother was preparing dinner, she realized that Finn was not back. After that, she barely touched her food. Everyone was sincerely worried about Finn – well, not everyone. Elijah was more curious than worried because frankly, he realized sadly that he did not trust Finn very much. Kol was not very worried either but he had to admit that it was unusual for Finn to be out without Mother's full knowledge.

Klaus, on the other hand, had an entirely different reason not to worry. It was because he knew where Finn was.


End file.
